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ANNA  ELLA  CARROLL, 

AUTHOR  OF  THE  "  GREAT  AMERICAN  BATTLK,"  KTO. 


"  Our  country's  glory  is  our  chief  concern : 
For  this  we  struggle,  and  for  this  we  burn  ; 
For  this  we  smile,  for  this  alone  we  sigh ; 
For  this  we  live,  for  this  would  freely  die." 


THIBD    EDITION,    REVISED    AND    ENLARGED. 


NEW   YORK: 

MILLER,    ORTON    <fe    CO. 
1857. 


[    -- 


431 


TO 

COMMODORE  CHARLES  STEWART, 

OF   THE   AMERICAN   NAVT. 

WHEN  the  honor,  the  rank,  the  commission,  or  the  subsistence, 
of  any  class  of  Americans  is  at  stake,  the  Constitution  does  not 
allow  secret  proceedings  to  be  instituted  against  them ;  because  an 
act  so  perpetrated  directly  interferes  with  their  inalienable  and  fun 
damental  rights.  It  forbids  all  conclaves,  or  cabals,  which  are 
invested  with  power,  to  make  deductions  upon  the  accusations  they 
themselves  have  made  when,  unseen  by  the  public  eye,  the  parties 
so  arraigned  have  been  denied  the  means  of  personal  explanation 
or  defense! 

As  Americans,  we  claim  to  belong  to  a  nation  distinguished  for 
its  freedom,  its  justice,  and  its  intelligence ;  and  to  deprive  a  citi 
zen  of  all  that  is  dear  in  life,  while  absent  and  unconscious;  to 
malign  his  reputation,  without  opportunity  of  defense,  and  thus 
bring  upon  him  shame  or  destitution,  is  a  crime  by  the  laws  of  God 
and  the  country,  and  cannot  but  endanger  the  safety  of  the  people ! 
Whatever  proceeding,  under  our  institutions,  tends  to  elicit  truth 
and  justice,  requires  the  sanction  of  religious  obligation,  the  exami 
nation  of  witnesses,  and  a  faithful  record ! 

The  board  of  officers  that  have  recently  sat  in  judgment  upon  the 
reputation,  fortune,  and  happiness,  of  the  entire  naval  corps,  have 
exercised  just  such  discretionary  power  as  we  know  to  be  at  war 
with  tke  Federal  Constitution,  and  at  variance  with  the  spirit  and 
intent  of  the  law  of  Congress. 

No  class  of  citizens  in  our  land  are  more  tenacious  of  their  rank 
than  officers  of  the  navy ;  and  the  desire  for  honorable  promotion 
is  cherished  with  an  interest  that  no  suffering  nor  sacrifice  can 

8 


IV  DEDICATION. 

remove.  Is  it  for  the  mere  consideration  it  confers,  or  the  addi 
tional  pecuniary  advantage  it  involves?  No;  but  because  of  the 
voluntary  surrender  of  a  life-service  to  the  honor,  usefulness,  defense 
and  glory  of  their  country.  And  hence,  no  apparent  rank,  however 
high,  no  compensation,  however  adequate  to  his  personal  ease  and 
comfort,  ever  atones,  in  the  estimation  of  a  right-minded  and  gal 
lant  officer,  for  the  sullied  honor  which  has  destroyed  equality  with 
his  associates  in  the  service. 

To  the  integrity,  the  talents,  the  distinguished  services,  and  the 
lofty  patriotism  of  the  senior  post-Captain,  the  highest  and  the 
oldest  officer  of  the  navy,  of  whose  record  the  whole  country  is 
proud,  the  author  now  respectfully  dedicates  these  pages. 

The  noblest  motives  that  could  actuate  an  American  belong 
to  him.  The  great  exploits  of  the  navy  belong  to  him.  The 
most  enduring  and  substantial  benefits  of  this  great  arm  of  the 
public  service  have  been  conferred  by  him!  No  greater  glory, 
therefore,  has  been  shed  upon  our  country's  history  than  that 
reflected  by  its  distinguished  citizen,  Commodore  Charles  Stewart. 
He  surrendered  a  lucrative  and  honorable  position  in  the  commer 
cial  marine,  and,  under  the  commission  of  lieutenant,  entered  the 
service  of  the  navy  the  9th  of  March,  1798.  In  1800,  during  our 
hostilities  with  France,  he  commanded  the  small  schooner  Experi 
ment,  of  twelve  guns,  with  which  he  captured  several  armed  vessels 
of  the  enemy !  He  subsequently  secured  the  La  Diane  from  his 
adversaries,  a  three-masted  ship,  and,  with  his  small  force,  put  to 
flight  a  brig  of  eighteen  guns,  which  ordinary  sagacity  would  have 
assumed  to  be  an  impossibility. 

In  1801,  when  the  reduction  of  the  navy  was  made,  under  Mr. 
Jefferson,  this  brave  officer  was  retained  to  reflect  Ms  own  heroism 
upon  the  service,  and,  like  the  stars  he  displayed  in  so  much  tri 
umph,  to  add  new  lustre  to  the  American  name !  Wlfen  the  war 
was  waged  against  Tripoli,  the  gallant  Stewart  was  in  the  squadron 
of  Commodore  Preble,  and  was  ready  to  enter  the  second  conflict 
with  a  hostile  power.  We  find  him  commanding  the  Siren,  and 
actively  engaged  in  burning  the  Philadelphia  in  the  very  harbor  of 
the  enemy,  and  afterwards  received  upon  his  deck  the  illustrious 
officer  to  whom  that  achievement  was  especially  committed !  The 
naval  encounters  of  the  subsequent  four  years  won  for  the  young 
lieutenant  a  reputation  which  has  grown  brighter  ever  since;  while 
the  navy  acquired  for  the  fame  of  our  country,  under  her  flag,  so 


DEDICATION.  V 

gallantly  borne  by  him,  a  halo  of  light  which  has  never  been  over 
shadowed  ! 

Very  early  after  the  cessation  of  these  hostilities,  Commodore  Stew 
art  was  tendered  the  commission  of  Captain,  bearing  date  the  22d 
April,  1806,  a  position  under  which  he  has  sacrificed  every  personal 
consideration  to  the  honor  of  the  American  flag  and  the  fair  fame 
of  his  own  pure  and  beautiful  name.  In  order  to  become  familiar 
ized  with  the  ocean  and  the  practical  arts  and  habits  of  navigation, 
Captain  Stewart,  with  the  permission  of  the  Government,  entered 
several  private  expeditions  for  exploration  and  trade ;  thus  enlarging 
his  experience  for  the  service  during  the  seven  years  interval  which 
preceded  our  war  with  Great  Britain  in  1812;  so  that  imbued  with 
every  quality  to  defend  the  honor  and  glory  of  his  country,  he  was 
prepared  to  rush  into  action  on  the  first  summons  to  the  battle ! 
President  Madison,  supposing  there  was  no  other  way  to  save  our 
armed  vessels  but  by  drawing  them  into  the  docks  for  protection, 
would  have  adopted  that  policy  to  shield  them  from  the  foe,  but  for 
the  timely  counsel  of  Commodore  Stewart!  To  him,  therefore,  are 
we  indebted  for  the  fresh  pride  and  exultation  that  was  awakened 
for  our  country  on  the  ocean  in  the  last  war  with  England,  as 
every  note  of  victory  from  that  scene  of  action  sent  a  new  throb  of 
joy,  which  was  consecrated  to  the  just  and  glorious  interests  of  our 
nation  ! 

Commodore  Stewart  commanded  the  frigate  Constitution,  and 
while  cruising  on  the  Portuguese  coast,  he  engaged  in  a  conflict 
with  the  Cyane  and  Levant,  two  English  vessels,  and  conquered 
both !  At  the  close  of  this  war,  it  was  at  once  seen  that  our  ocean 
victories,  so  important  in  their  national  bearing,  had  resulted  from 
the  wisdom  of  Commodore  Stewart,  to  whom  the  administration  of 
Mr.  Mailison  had  deferred !  And  the  Congress  of  the  United  States  in 
1816 — February  22d,  passed  a  resolution  requiring  the  President  to 
present  this  illustrious  officer  with  a  gold  medal,  expressive  of  the 
high  sense  the  country  entertained  for  his  character,  conduct,  and 
services ;  and  the  Legislatures  of  New  York  and  Philadelphia  like 
wise  tendered  similar  exhibitions  of  praise.  He  then  followed  our 
pennant  upon  the  shores  of  South  America,  in  behalf  of  liberty, 
and  watched  the  condition  of  these  new  born  republics ;  where 
'  from  1821  to  1824  he  commanded  the  squadron  of  the  Pacific. 
When  science  and  humanity  demanded,  we  found  him  penetrating 


VI  DEDICATION. 

the  ices  of  the  poles ;  when  despotic  vengeance  demanded,  we  found 
him  there  too,  nobly  executing  the  mission  of  this  great  nation ! 

And  now,  with  what  indignation  and  shame  do  we  recall  the  fact, 
that  Commodore  Stewart  was  made  the  distinguished  victim  of  that 
irresponsible  cabal,  whose  judgment  the  President  of  the  country, 
without  a  sipgle  disinterested  channel  of  explanation  or  enquiry, 
adopted !  But  the  verdict  of  the  people  rejects  the  decision  of  that 
President  and  Board !  And  grateful  for  the  eminent  public  services, 
which  have  given  prestige  to  the  Navy,  and  elevated  and  adorned 
the  history  of  the  country  in  the  sight  of  all  mankind,  the  Author, 
as  an  humble  representative  of  millions  of  her  countrymen,  re-affirms 
the  truth  of  history,  and  inscribes  this  evidence  of  her  admiration 
and  confidence  to  Commodore  Charles  Stewart. 


CONTENTS. 


THE  FIRST  AMERICAN   EXPLORING  EXPEDITION. 

CHAPTER   I. 

Americana  pensioners  upon  foreign  governments,  fifty  years  after  the  Declaration  of 
Independence,  in  respect  to  nautical  knowledge — Spain's  advancement  at  that  time — • 
The  Italians  and  Portuguese — The  Danes  and  Norwegians — Knowledge  of  the  Torrid 
Zone — Of  the  Frigid  Zone — Russia's  discoveries  and  their  extent — England's  explora 
tions — Transfer  of  the  Whale  Fisheries — Owen — King — England's  tenacity  in  pursuit 
of  a  northwest  passage — The  first  American  who  proposed  a  scientific  exploration  — 
Hon.  J.  N.  Reynolds — His  enviable  distinction, 18 

SECTION  I. — Act  of  Congress  authorizing  Expedition — The  universal  concession  as  to  its 
authorship — Its  effects  upon  men  of  science — Its  benefit  to  France  and  England — The 
Geographical  Society  of  England,  France,  and  the  United  States  make  the  Southern, 
Continent  on  the  same  day — President  Jackson — Mr.  Reynolds'  attainments  as  a 
scholar — His  enthusiasm  in  the  cause  of  Science — His  address  in  the  hall  of  the  House 
of  Representatives — His  resolution  to  accomplish  this  undertaking — Mr.  Jefferson,  16 

SECTION  II. — The  tonnage  of  the  United  States — The  early  settlers— John  Smith's  survey 
— The  Pilgrims— The  jealousy  of  England — New  England  enterprise— New  York — The 
Indians — The  envy  of  France  and  England — Cause  of  the  French  Wars — Ammunition" 
obtained  from  the  enemy,  which  saved  the  American  cause — The  institution  of  the 
American  navy, 19 

SECTION  III.— The  American  spirit— The  carrying  trade — Berlin  and  Milan  decrees — The 
extension  of  our  commerce — Introduction  of  cotton — Internal  Improvements — Their 
effects  upon  national  interests — The  demand  for  the  merchants — Discovery  of  the 
Pacific  Ocean— Balboa,  .  .  .  .  ..-•  22 

SECTION  IV.— Charles  V.— Magellan— Columbus— Court  of  Seville— What  led  to  the  dis 
covery  of  the  North  American  Continent — Hudson  Bay  Company — Reynolds'  belief  in 
a  northwest  passage — Memorials  for  a  survey  of  a  Northwest  Expedition  presented 
to  Congress — The  Press  in  its  favor — The  commercial  community — The  inhabitants  of 
Nantucket — Resolution  of  Congress,  in  its  favor,  passed, 26 

SECTION  V. — The  Navy  Department — Samuel  L.  Southard — The  next  Session  of  Con 
gress — Governor  Branch — Administration  of  General  Jackson — Mr.  Reynolds  goes 
abroad, • 80 

CHAPTER    II. 

Discoveries  by  whale  ships — European  constructors  of  maps — American  fishermen — The 
mariners  of  New  Bedford  and  Nantucket  consulted — The  Seal  Trade — Emperor  Alex 
ander  of  Rus-la — Captain  Palmer, 89 

SECTION  I. — East  India  Marine  Society — The  want  of  nautical  knowledge  in  the  Ameri 
can  Navy — Island  of  Sumatra — Sunday  Isles — Feejee  Isles — English  bounties — Friends 
of  the  country — Ship  Mentor,  ..• 85 

SECTION  II. — French  Expedition — Kings  of  Denmark— England — Want  of  American 
charts — Our  consul  at  Oahce — The  national  dignity  of  the  Expedition — Its  purpose — 
Its  accordance  with  Mr.  Jefferson's  views, ST 

SECTION  III.— The  religious  view— Outlets  of  the  Northern  Polar  Seas— The  North  Polar 
Seas  inhabited — Cause  of  the  Ice  in  those  regions — A  million  and  a  half  of  square 
miles  unexplored  by  man — Captain  Cook  in  search  of  a  Southern  Continent — His 
want  of  proper  information,  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  ,  .  .  .40 

SUCTION  IV.— Weddell— Briscol— P.eynolds  in  the  Antarctic  Ocean— Isabella— Catherine 

of  Russia — Caiue  of  the  Introduction  of  Philology, 48 

Til 


Vlll  CONTENTS. 


SKTION  V. — Advantages  of  the  Exploration  In  the  eyes  of  statesmen — Congratulatory 
letters— Hon.  J.  K.  Paulding— James  E.  De  Kay — Prof.  Silliman — Hon.  Benj.  Rodman 
— Hon.  Joseph  Del  a  field, 4*J 

SECTION  VI. — Payment  of  the  debt  for  practical  science  and  intelligence — Winslow 
Lewis,  Jr.— Hon.  H.  D.  Gilpin— Henry  Junius  Nott— Caleb  Gushing,  .  .  .49 

CHAPTER    III. 

Origin  of  the  Aborigines — Mr.  Duponceau — Woman's  influence — President  Washington 
— Sir  Humphry  Davy — Cuvier — Origin  of  the  Gipsies — Sandwich  Islanders — Hon.  John 
Pickering, 68 

SECTION  I — Prof.  Charles  Anthon— Prof.  Josiah  F.  Gibbs — Prof.  Charles  Grey — Botany 
— Zoology— Dr.  Charles  Pickering— The  patriotism  of  Reynolds— Tht  final  passage  of 
the  Bill — Hamer's  speech — The  eight  States  which  recommended  it — The  distinguished 
commanders,  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .65 

SECTION  II. — Eight  years  before  Congress — Twice  adopted  by  the  House — The  first  impe 
diment  to  its  being  carried  into  effect — Its  correspondence  with  the  views  of  Jefferstm 
and  Monroe — Channel  of  New  York — Our  commercial  marine,  .  .  .  .59 

SECTION  III  — Hon.  Michael  Hoffman— Mr.  Ripley— Reynold's  Report  of  1828  —  Hii 
knowledge  extraordinary — His  Declarations — The  want  of  proper  maps  and  charts 
for  the  country — Tyre,  Greece,  etc. — Foreign  nations  keeping  our  commerce  in  lead 
ing  strings—  Reynold's  remarks, ......  .  .62 

SKCTION  IV. — Capture  of  America  by  the  Barbary  Powers — Burke — Coast  of  California 
— Four  hundred  islands  made  known  by  Reynolds — The  tonnage,  men,  and  capital 
engaged  in  the  whaling  business — The  wealth  of  the  fisheries,  .  .  .  .66 

SUCTION  V. — Did  the  execution  of  the  Expedition  meet  the  design  of  its  projector,  and 
the  intention  of  Congress? — Incompetent  officials  —  Hon.  Mahlon  Dickenson — The 
French  Government — Energy  of  Americans  —  President  Jackson — The  attempt  to 
strangle  the  Expedition — The  action  of  Congress  judged  by  a  committee — Instructions 
of  the  Secretary, .  *.,».«,»  -69 

SECTION  VI. — Forbearance  towards  the  dead — Willful  perversion  of  the  object — General 
Ripley's  report — Dutee  J.  Pierce — Commodore  Downes'  letter — Attempt  lo  curtail  the 
Expedition — Lord  Byron — Commodore  Hull — Samuel  L.  Southard,  .  .  .73 

CHAPTER    IV. 

The  effect  of  the  delay  on  Congress — Vacillation  of  the  Department — General  Jackson's 
order— Jealousy  fomented  between  officer  and  citizen— Treatment  of  the  Scientific 
Corps — The  American  Revolution — Reasons  assigned  for  the  delay  of  the  Expedi 
tion,  78 

SECTION  I. — Commodore  Jones — Refusal  of  money  by  the  Department — Extra  pay  pro 
vided  by  Congress — Prevarication  of  the  cabal — Incongruous  report  of  the  Head  of 
the  Department — Anecdote,  ...........82 

Buenos  II. — The  draw  on  the  Treasury— A  national  Expedition— American  Artists — 
Lieutenant  Wilkes — His  ridiculous  purchase  in  Europe — The  Naval  Board  ap 
pointed,  ...'... 85 

SECTION  III. — The  Instruments  detained — Degradation  put  upon  Science — American 
seamen  shipwrecked — The  effect  of  a  frigate, 89 

SECTION  IV. — Hull,  Biddte,  a»d  Aulick— The  Peacock— Commodore  Jones  resigns — Cap 
tain  Kearney — Poinsett  appointed  to  direct  the  Expedition — Captain  Gregory — Lieut. 
Gedney — Wilkes  declares  liis  superior's  want  of  talents, 92 

SECTION  V.— Captain  James  Armstrong — Commodores  Chauncy,  Bainbridge,  and  Hull— 
The  Instrument  of  the  cabal — Appointment  of  Wilkes,  ......  96 

CHAPTER    V. 

Celebrated  Report  of  1837 — The  Macedonia — Expedition  delayed  three  years  after  being 
ordered  by  Congress — Governor  Wise's  speech — Ingham's  defense — The  force  given 
to  Wilkes, 105 

SUCTION  I.— The  Macedonia  withdrawn— Wilkes'  Squadron— The  squadron  under  Jones 
— Dodging  Congress — Van  Buren  and  Poinsett — Wilkea'  falsehood,  .  .  .  109 

BKCTION  II.— Entomology — CnuUceology— Paleontology— Cuvier—  Deshaye — Agassis- 
Hostility  to  Reynolds, 113 


CONTENTS. 


SECTION  in.— Deception  practised  on  'General  Jackson— Prof.  William  R.  Johnson  — 
Kearney's  squadron — Dr.  Reynell  Coates — Wilkes'  subterfuge  to  thwart  Reynolds — 
Reynolds'  letter  to  Poinsett 115 

SBCTION  IV.— Collision  between  Poinsett  and  Van  Buren— Attempt  to  implicate  Paulding 
— Various  letters  from  Members  of  Congress  favoring  Reynolds'  appointment  to  con 
trol  the  civil  department  of  the  Expedition — Cincinnati  Republican — The  results 
accruing  to  Science  from  Reynold's  efforts,  .  « 120 


THE  PACIFIC    RAILROAD. 
CHAPTER  I. 

Invention  and  effects  of  printing — The  commerce  of  the  world  controlled  by  a  railroad 
through  this  continent — Anglo-American  enterprise — Joel  Barlow — Erie  Canal — Rail 
road  from  Portland,  Maine,  to  Nova  Scotia, 137 

CHAPTER    II. 

Four  and  a  half  days'  travel  from  New  York  to  California  by  railroad — Columbus — 
Twenty-four  days  between  New  York  and  China — The  opium  trade — Tobacco  versut 
opium — English  jealousy — Tea  trade — The  road  in  a  moral  and  educational  view — 
The  three  routes, 143 

CHAPTER   III. 

Value  of  the  whaling  trade — Grants  of  Texas  lands  to  aid  the  road— The  central  route — 
Canals,.  .  *  •*'»£«,'  ;,.• 160 

CHAPTER    IV. 

Romanism  opposed  to  the  road — Gold  of  California  and  Australia— Silver  mines  of 
Sooora — Laborers  and  manufacturers  benefited  by  the  road, 171 

CHAPTER    V. 

Effects  of  the  gold  of  California  upon  real  estate,  commerce,  currency,  labor,  and  manu 
factures — Telegraph — Method  of  laying  the  submarine  telegraph — Congress  and  the 
Pacific  Railroad — The  democratic  administration  against  the  road — The  American 
party  and  Millard  Fillmore  committed  to  the  road, 180 


LOSS  OF  THE  SLOOP  OF  WAR  ALBANY,  COMMANDER 
GERRY,  OFFICERS,  AND  CREW. 

CHAPTER   I. 

The  Author's  apology— Commander  Gerry — Captains  Eagle  and  Mitchell  sent  in  search 
of  the  Albany — Ports  visited  by  the  Albany — Elbridge  Gerry — His  participation  in  the 
Declaration  and  Constitution — Governor  of  Massachusetts — One  of  the  original  seven 
signers  of  the  Declaration  of  Independence — Presided  over  the  United  States  Senate, 
In  1818 — Captain  Gerry — His  official  acts — Names  of  the  officers  of  the  Albany,  .  1ST 

CHAPTER    II. 

Last  seen  of  the  Albany — Anecdote — Long  Cruise — Captain  Gerry's  religious  character 
— He  was  a  Communicant — Elbridge  Gerry,  Jr. — Lieutenant  Bleecker — Nicholas  Fish 
Morris, .  199 


CULPABILITY  INVOLVED   IN  THE  LOSS  OF  THE 

ALBANY. 
CHAPTER    I. 

Who  caused  the  loss— The  Albany's  Defects — Secretary's  letter  to  Newton — Newton's 
letter  at  the  Gulf  of  Samana— Dobbin's  approval — The  order  for  the  fatal  cruise — 
Newton's  excuse  —Officer-lite  conduct  of  Gerry,  .  .  .  '  .  .  .  .  209 

1* 


CONTENTS. 


CHAPTER   II. 

Elbridge  Gerry  first  proposed  an  American  Navy — Jefferson's  opposition — Newton's 
life  saved  by  Gerry — Yellow  fever — Newton's  antecedents — Loss  of  the  Fulton — Acci 
dents  to  the  Missouri — Dobbin's  call  on  Newton  for  Commander  Gerry's  letter— New 
ton's  Staten  Island  letter, 2J9 

CHAPTER    III. 

Gerry  deceived — Dobbin's  expressed  ignorance  of  the  Albany's  defective  condition, 
after  her  loss — Newton  rewarded, 229 


THE  AMERICAN  NAVY. 

CHAPTER    I. 

Foreign  navies— Navy  Retiring  Board — Noble  daring  of  Lieut.  Rolando — Pierce  and 
Dobbin — Affray  between  Captain  Perry  and  Heath— Shubrick,       ....  282 

CHAPTER    II. 

Stribling  and  Diaboleto— Commodore  Hull— Pendegrast's  inefficiency,      .       .       .  247 

CHAPTER    III. 

Commodore  Perry — Japan  expedition — Captains  Graham,  Inman,  and  Levy — Abolish 
ment  of  flogging  in  the  navy— Conduct  of  Pierce, 267 

CHAPTER    IV. 

Cost  of  a  naval  education — Corruption — Mallory,  a  foreigner,  alms  to  destroy  the  navy 
— Insufficiency  of  the  bureaus, 269 


AN  AMERICAN  HERO  THE  VICTIM  OF  A  CONSPIRACY. 

CAPTAIN  BARTLETT'S  VINDICATION. 

CHAPTER   I. 

Chief  Justice  Gilchrist — Lieutenant  Bartlett  on  duty  when  broken  In  the  service — No 
official  notice— The  devotion  of  his  wife, 278 

SECTION  I. — Testimonials  of  his  Commodore,  commanders,  associates,  and  subalterns — 
Extraordinary  strength  of  this  evidence — Letters  of  Commodores  Lavallette  and 
Montgomery, 288 

SECTION  II. — Captain  Bartlett  in  command  of  the  Kwing — Prof.  Bache's  testimony — 
Bartlett  at  the  mouth  of  the  Columbia  River — Wilkes'  ignorance  as  to  the  mode  of 
entering  the  channel  of  the  Columbia — ISenton's  prophecy — Bartlett's  Report,  .  289 

SECTION  III. — Contrast  between  the  sea  service  of  Wilkes  and  Bartlett — Lieutenant 
Moffat,  a  naval  Commodore — The  military  and  civil  services  of  Bartlett  in  California 
— Montgomery's  letter— Several  high  offices  filled  by  Bartlett  in  California— His  legal 
attainments — Elected  by  the  people  to  the  chief  magistracy— His  extraordinary  tact 
In  administering  the  government — Conduct  as  Judge,  ......  295 

SECTION  IV. — Bartlett  the  first  to  suggest  lighting  the  approaches  to  San  Francisco — 
His  improvements  upon  the  old  system— Why  he  was  sent  to  Paris— How  he  was 
instructed, 802 

CHAPTER    II. 

The  appropriation  of  his  labors  by  the  Lighthouse  Board— Plenary  power  with  which 
BartKtt  was  invested— Misroon's  falsehood— Testimony  of  Professors  Bache  and 
Henry,  .  807 

SECTION  I.— Bartlett  goes  to  Paris  before  the  creation  of  the  Lighthouse  Board— His 
discretionary  power  continues — The  Board's  Report — The  number  of  lights  purchased 
by  Bartlett — The  interest  exhibited  among  the  Savans  of  Europe — Letter  of  the  Audi 
tor  of  the  Treasury, 811 


CONTENTS. 


SSCTTOB  II.— Bartlett's  Integrity  unimpeachable— His  services— His  lawful  claim— The 
unjust  deductions  of  the  Secretary  of  the  Treasury, SIS 

SECTION  III. — The  Secretary's  knowledge  of  Bartlett's  services — Bartlett's  philanthropy 
— Incident — His  appeal  in  behalf  of  the  Cape  de  Verde  Island  sufferers — Hisroon  bis 
enemy — Bartlett's  associations, 823 

SECTION  IV. — The  American  Consul,  Heart — Bartlett's  generosity — His  family — Com 
mencement  of  his  naval  career — His  gallant  action  as  a  midshipman,  .  .  .  881 

SKCTION  V. — Bartlett's  messmates  on  the  Fail-field — His  advantages  as  a  linguist — Com 
modore  Wadsworth — His  friendship  with  Captain  Montgomery — Commodore  Perry's 
letter — Bartlett's  first  naval  services, 837 

SECTION  VI. — Bartlett  as  a  Hydrographer — Joins  the  Portsmouth — His  conduct  there — 
The  Author's  defense  founded  upon  data  and  vouchers, 840 


CENTRAL  AMERICA. 

CHAPTER    I. 

Our  commercial  relations — The  Federal  Republic  of  Central  America — General  Francisco 
Morazan — Destruction  of  the  republic — General  William  Walker — His  first  expedition 
— President  of  Lower  California — Invasion  of  Sonora — Commercial  company  formed 
In  California — Grant  of  land — Castellan,  the  republican  democrat— Chamorra.  the 
aristocrat — Cabanos — The  priesthood  unite  with  the  autocrat  Chamorra,  .  .  845 

CHAPTER    II. 

The  battle  of  Rivas — Its  effect  upon  the  Nicaraguans — Battle  of  Virgin  Bay — Granada — 
Romish  church  used  as  a  fort — Battle  of  Granada — Walker  is  offered  the  presidency 
of  Nicaragua — He  declines  in  favor  of  General  Corral — St.  George  cannonaded — 
Walker  reinforced — Arrival  of  Colonel  Fry  and  Parker  H.  French — Expedition  against 
San  Carlos — 'Padre  Vijil — Walker's  forces  augmented — Display  of  firmness — Treason  of 
General  Corral — His  execution — Rivas  president — The  "  Nicaraguense  "  newspaper 
started — Col.  French  sent  as  minister  jilenipotentlary  to  Washington — Is  not  received 
— Shamefully  treated  by  the  Pierce  administration — Natural  scenery  of  Nicaragua — 
Schlessinger, 855 

CHAPTER    III. 

Battle  at  Santa  Rosa — Schlessinger's  treachery — Battle  of  Rivas — German  deserters — 
Individual  prowess — The  testimonial  at  Nashville, 870 

CHAPTER    IV. 

English  interference — American  enterprise — Popularity  of  Gen.  Walker — His  election  to 
the  Presidency — Inauguration — March  of  Christianity  in  Nicaragua,  .  .  .  889 


THE  ROMISH  SYSTEM  A   POLITICAL  CORPORATION. 
CHAPTER   I. 

Rome  opposed  to  {be  circulation  of  the  Bible — Contrast  between  enlightened  freedom 
and  Romish  ignorance  and  servitude — Power  of  the  Confessional — Secrete  extorted  by 
confessors— Ballot-box,  .  .  .  ..  ,  .  ....  .  .  .892 

CHAPTER    II. 

Rome  opposed  to  printing  and  freedom  of  the  Press — The  Council  of  Lateran — Pro 
hibited  books — Booksellers  subjected  to  penalties  and  restrictions — Penalty  of  "  ex 
communication  "  for  reading  "  heretical "  books,  .......  401 

CHAPTER    III. 

Encyclical  letter  of  Pope  Gregory  XVI. — Arrogated  power  of  the  priesthood — Rome 
persecutes  beyond  the  grave — Political  agents  of  the  Papacy  in  America — Blighting 
effect*  of  Popery— History  of  the  interdict  of  Venice  fulminated  by  Pope  Paul  V.,  410 


Xil  CONTENTS. 


CHAPTER    IV. 

The  Pope  and  the  sword — The  claim  of  the  Romish  church  to  Infallibility — Preposterous 
claims  of  the  Pope — Bull  against  Queen  Elizabeth — Leo  III. — "  Ceremonies  of  the  Holy 
Roman  Church  "—Romanism  the  same  now  as  ever, 480 

CHAPTER    V. 

Bishop  England's  authority — The  "Host" — Catholic  Telegraph  of  Cincinnati  denounces 
republicanism— Bishop  Flaget,  of  Kentucky,  against  our  republican  government — 
The  canon  laws, 441 

CHAPTER    VI. 

The  Eternal  City— The  effects  of  Romanism  and  Protestantism  contrasted— Luther — 
America  is  Bible  ground — The  Jesuits  and  state  politics— Spies— The  silent  Press — 
America  the  last  battle-field  of  Popery, 449 


ROMANISM  OPPOSED  TO  OUR  LIBERTIES. 

CHAPTER   I. 

First  prayer  in  Congress— Washington  the  Protestant — Franklin — Pownal's  prophecy — 
Brownson  and  McMasters  betray  the  objects  of  the  Papacy  in  America— Romanism 
opposed  to  progress — Marriage — Absolution — Power  of  the  Popef  ....  456 

CHAPTER    II. 

The  sacrament  of  marriage — Dispensation — Romanists  disqualified  from  holding  trusts 
under  Protestant  governments — Creed  of  Pope  Pius  IV.— Sacrifice  of  the  mass — The 
wafer-God — Purgatory — Saints — Images  and  relics — Indulgences — Bills  of  exchange 
on  Purgatory— Council  of  Trent, 46T 

CHAPTER    III. 

The  bishop's  oath — The  Jesuits — The  Bible— Forgery— The  commentary  of  Menochius— 
Bellarmine — Curse  of  Pope  Benedict  VIII. — The  Council  of  Constance — Maynooth 
College — Dens'  theology— Pope  Urban  II.— Pope  Sixtus  V. — The  Inquisition— Roman 
ism  unchangeable — Illustrations  of  the  spirit  of  Popery — The  nature  of  Romanism,  477 


A  PROTESTANT  EDUCATION  FOR  AMERICAN 

CITIZENS. 
CHAPTER  I. 

Papists  opposed  to  public  schools — Education — "  Christian  Brothers  " — Rules  of  the 
Order— Archbishop  Hughes  — Romish  convention  —  Proscription  of  Americans  by 
Franklin  Pierce — Bible  banished  from  our  schools, .  498 

CHAPTER    II. 

Superficial  education  at  Romish  seminaries  — Sisters  of  Charity — Jesuistesses —  Their 
plan  of  operations — Hypocrisy — White  and  black  veil, 510 

CHAPTER    III. 

Pupils  in  Romish  Seminaries  deprived  of  the  Bible— Rome  afraid  of  the  Bible — Interest 
ing  narrative, 518 

CHAPTER    IV. 

The  fruits  of  Romanism— Dr.  Giustiniani — Dangerous  tendencies  of  Romish  instructions 
— Dogmas  of  the  Jesuits, ..'....  526 

CHAPTER    V. 

Cardinal  Wiseman— Ribbon  societies — Pope  Barberini — St.  Peter  and  Jupiter — Rome 
persecutes  genius— The  power  of  Popery  in  America,  .  .  .  .  .584 

BIOGRAPHICAL  SKETCH   OF  EDWIN  0.   PERRIN 541 

«  "  "    SIDNEY  KOPMAN, 661 

M  »          *    NATHAN   RAMSEY, 655 


/C  < 


THE 


CHAPTER    I. 

WHATEVER  tends  to  increase  the  stimulus 
to  commercial  or  maritime  research,  adds  to 
our  national  resources,  and  becomes  an  impor 
tant  element  to  the  foundation  of  our  national 
power. 

For  fifty  years  after  our  independence  as  a 
nation  had  been  acknowledged  by  the  civilized 
powers  of  the  earth,  and  more  than  forty  after 
our  present  matchless  form  of  government  had 
been  adopted,  we  remained,  for  maritime  and 
scientific  knowledge,  wholly  pensioners  upon 
foreign  governments. 

We  had  not  given  a  single  impetus  to  a 
national  enterprise  ;  we  had  not  contributed  a 
single  dollar  for  the  promotion  of  scientific 


N 


14  FIRST    AMERICAN 

intelligence  ;  we  had  not  taken  a  step  to  ad 
vance  navigation  as  a  science  ;  our  ships  sailed 
by  charts  which  we  had  no  part  in  making ;  and 
not  a  mathematical  instrument  had  we  then  con 
structed.  Even  Spain,  with  her  exclusive  sys 
tem  of  monopoly,  had  shamed  us  by  contribu 
tions  to  geographical  knowledge,  in  the  form 
of  numerous  charts.  The  Italians  and  Portu 
guese  had  ventured  into  unknown  seas  and 
made  important  discoveries.  The  Danes  and 
Norwegians  had  pushed  into  the  Arctic  regions 
and  planted  colonies  on  the  ice-bound  shores 
of  Greenland.  The  torrid  zone,  supposed  to 
have  nothing  but  sandy  deserts  and  a  vertical 
sun,  had  been  found  to  teem  with  organic  life, 
and  with  a  denser  population  than  the  tempe 
rate  zone.  The  frigid,  too,  no  longer  lay  under 
perpetual  snows,  and  navigators  had  seen  plants 
grow,  and  flowers  bloom,  in  its  partial  summer. 
Russia  had  made  discoveries  in  every  part  of 
the  globe.  Her  expeditions  had  penetrated  into 
Tartary,  north  of  Thibet,  and  under  the  snow 
capped  ranges  of  the  Himalaya  and  Imans,  and 
the  northwest  portion  of  our  own  continent. 
While  in  the  Southern  Ocean,  she  had  gone  as 
far  as  the  70th  parallel  of  latitude,  and  boasted 


EXPLORING   EXPEDITION.  15 

of  having  discovered  islands  that  Cook  never 
saw. 

England,  however,  had  been  preeminent  in 
her  scientific  explorations.  Under  her  auspices 
the  whale-fishery  was  transferred  from  East 
to  West  Greenland.  She  had  sent  Owen  to 
the  southeastern  coast  of  Africa,  King  to  the 
Straits  of  Magellan,  and  constructed  charts  for 
that  almost  unknown  passage  to  the  Pacific  ; 
while,  for  three  centuries,  she  had  persevered 
in  her  attempt  to  find  a  northwest  passage,  no 
generation  having  yielded  to  its  supposed  im 
practicability. 

Thus  were  we  occupying  a  national  position 
which  humiliated  the  American  character  in  the 
sight  of  the  whole  scientific  world,  when  the  first 
man,  who  was  a  citizen  of  our  country,  a  son  of 
our  soil,  appeared,  to  elevate  by  his  efforts,  the 
scientific  intelligence  of  the  people,  and  to  equal 
ize  our  condition,  in  this  repect,  with  every  for 
eign  government  of  the  Old  World.  Hon.  J.  N. 
Reynolds,  of  New  York,  was  the  projector  of  the 
first  exploring  expedition  in  the  United  States. 
An  expedition  which,  though  shorn  of  much  of 
the  magnitude  of  its  original  design  by  the  scan 
dalous  action  of  weak,  incompetent,  and  unfaith- 


*  FIRST    AMERICAN 

ful  officials  of  the  government,  has,  nevertheless, 
been  pregnant  with  beneficial  results  to  this  na 
tion — the  greatness  or  limit  of  which  no  human 
eye  can  foresee  ?  This  American,  then,  con 
ceived  and  accomplished  for  his  country,  what 
the  most  undaunted  navigator  had  not  before 
imagined,  or  had  the  moral  courage  to  propose. 
And  he  stands  alone,  at  an  unapproachable  dis 
tance,  possessing  a  claim  to  this  distinction,  not 
merely  for  having  attempted,  but  having  actu 
ally  accomplished  his  purpose ! 


SECTION   I. 

The  act  of  Congress  which  passed  the  14th  of 
May,  1836,  authorizing  the  First  Exploring  Ex 
pedition,  was  the  result  of  the  arduous  labors  of 
that  single  individual.  No  one  within  the  pre 
cincts  of  Congress  ignored  that  fact ;  while  he 
received  from  the  scientific  professions  and  the 
country,  the  highest  evidences  of  honor  it  was 
in  their  power  to  bestow.  And  when  we  con 
sider  the  immense  public  benefit  which  has  re 
sulted  to  the  country  hi  its  commerce,  science, 
literature,  and  arts,  by  the  services  of  Mr.  Rey- 


EXPLORING   EXPEDITION.  17 

nolds,  we  cannot  but  invoke  the  judgment  of  the 
American  people  to  these  results. 

His  labors  have  become  to  all  the  subsequent 
expeditions  which  we  have  accomplished,  what 
the  "  tamping  bar  "  of  England  is  to  miners. 

They  have  guided  our  men  of  science  in  their 
explorations,  as  that  bar  guides  the  miner 
through  inflammable  gases,  without  the  fear  of 
being  fired  by  the  rocks.  Nor  was  the  effect 
of  that  first  efficient  action  of  our  American  Con 
gress  confined  to  our  exclusive  national  benefit. 
The  governments  of  France  and  England  very 
soon  appropriated  the  valuable  information  eli 
cited  by  Mr.  Reynolds  in  maturing  out  that  ex 
pedition.  The  Geographical  Society  of  England 
was  in  session  when  the  news  of  our  contem 
plated  exploration  reached  Europe,  and  the 
deepest  interest  was  so  instantly  awakened,  that 
similar  expeditions  were  at  once  fitted  out  by 
both  England  and  France.  And  soon  the  Lion, 
the  Lily,  and  the  American  Eagle  appeared  in 
the  same  constellation  ;  and,  what  is  more  sin 
gular,  the  ensigns  of  France  and  the  United 
States  made  the  Southern  Continent  the  same 
day! 

Americans  will  remember  that  it  was  under 


18  FIRST    AMERICAN 

the  administration  of  President  Jackson  that 
this  exploring  expedition  obtained  the  sanction 
of  Congress,  and  in  the  success  of  which  Jack 
son  felt  the  deepest  solicitude. 

Mr.  Reynolds  having  been  early  distinguished 
for  excellence  and  eminence  in  classical  attain 
ments  among  his  contemporaries,  soon  became 
noted  not  only  for  science,  but  for  literary  dis 
tinction  ;  and,  with  all  his  acknowledged  ability, 
he  seems  to  have  singularly  striven  for  that 
modest  incognito  which,  fortunately  for  his  coun 
try,  he  has  not  been  able  to  maintain.  His  love 
of  wild  adventure,  and  his  travel  around  the  cir 
cumference  of  the  earth,  had  given  him  extraor 
dinary  experience  as  a  navigator,  and  his  enthusi 
asm  in  the  cause  of  science  had  brought  him  into 
notice  through  his  works  at  an  early  age.  While 
his  address  in  the  Hall  of  the  House  of  Repre 
sentatives,  on  the  3d  of  April,  1836,  on  the  sub 
ject  of  the  surveying  and  exploring  expedition 
to  the  Pacific  Ocean,  and  South  Seas,  with  his 
inimitable  discussions  upon  the  manner,  that 
expedition  was  finally  dispatched,  will  ever  re 
main  among  the  classical  productions  of  the 
English  language  in  this  country,  and  wherever 
that  tongue  is  spoken  or  read. 


EXPLORING   EXPEDITION.  19 

It  is  not  wonderful  that  when  this  American 
surveyed  the  earth  in  its  magnitude,  and  beheld 
the  natural  greatness  of  his  native  land,  her  une 
qualled  institutions,  the  genius,  enterprise,  and 
energy,  of  his  countrymen,  that  he  should  have 
mourned  to  see  American  libraries  filled  with 
the  maps,  charts,  and  histories,  of  what  science 
had  done  in  other  nations,  and  that  he  made  the 
resolution  of  the  boy,  voluntarily  acted  out  in 
the  man,  his  purpose  to  stimulate  and  develop 
these  national  resources.  The  only  wonder 
is,  that  this  had  not  been  done  before !  For, 
although  the  survey  of  the  coast  had  been  re 
commended  by  Mr.  Jefferson,  the  work  had  but 
then  been  commenced.  And  much  of  its  merit 
was,  therefore,  neutralized  by  such  national  ne 
glect. 

SECTION    II. 

In  the  meantime,  we  had  more  tonnage  than 
all  the  nations  of  Europe  together  when  Colum 
bus  discovered  America,  and  owned  a  navy 
larger  than  was  all  the  effective  force  of  the 
Old  World  at  that  day. 

Americans,  do  you  wish  to  know  what  made 


20  FIRST   AMERICAN 

you  so  early  able  to  compete  with  England  in 
familiarity  with  the  ocean  ?  It  was  the  severe 
hardships  to  which  the  early  settlers  of  our 
country  were  inured.  Six  years  before  the 
Pilgrims  landed  on  Plymouth  Hock,  John  Smith 
had  coasted  from  the  James  River  to  Ports 
mouth,  and  surveyed  all  the  islands  and  harbors 
of  New  England.  This  was  in  1614.  When  the 
Pilgrims  came,  in  1620,  they  went  to  work  and 
built  ships  at  once,  in  order  to  survey  the  south 
ern  coast,  and  traffic  with  the  natives.  In  less 
than  fifty  years  after  that,  the  American  tonnage 
was  great  enough  to  excite  the  jealousy  of  Eng 
land !  Even  when,  in  1665,  Massachusetts  had 
a  militia  of  but  four  thousand,  she  owned  one 
hundred  and  forty  vessels  of  between  twenty 
and  one  hundred  tons  burden.  So  of  New 
York,  at  that  time  in  British  power.  The  very 
first  thing  her  colonists  did  was  to  hollow  out  a 
tree,  to  cross  the  adjacent  waters,  and  commune 
with  the  settlers.  Indeed,  maritime  enterprise 
has  been  the  earliest  characteristic  of  the  Ameri 
can  people.  And  this  drew  the  seafarer  and 
emigrant  to  the  Atlantic  shores.  The  Indians, 
at  the  dawn  of  the  seventeenth  century,  prowled 
around  the  dwellings  of  the  emigrants,  and  the 


EXPLORING   EXPEDITION.  21 

necessaries  of  life  were  raised  in  scanty  supplies, 
because  these  sagacious  adventurers  were  busied 
in  fitting  out  expeditions  to  ascertain  the  inden 
tures  on  our  coast,  its  rivers  and  harbors.  The 
fisheries,  then,  were  more  ardently  pursued  than 
any  other  enterprise,  and  from  them,  in  connec 
tion  with  lumber,  and  the  fur  trade,  the  nation 
received  its  first  impulse,  and  its  first  resources. 

Very  soon  this  maritime  enterprise  of  America 
excited  the  envy  of  France  against  England,  and 
this  was  the  primary  and  efficient  cause  of  the 
first  and  second  French  wars,  in  which  America 
became  the  common  battle-ground.  The  Ameri 
can  privateers  displayed,  at  that  crisis,  naval 
skill  which  rendered  them  the  pride  of  the  mo 
ther  country,  while  they  added  wealth  to  their 
own  enterprise.  These  French  wars  then  made 
the  trying  ordeal  by  which  the  American  people 
were  trained  for  the  battle  of  Independence. 
"We  took,  by  these  means,  a  step  from  base  sub 
serviency  to  England  to  the  rank  of  a  maritime 
nation,  of  no  small  account!  Nearly  two  thou 
sand  vessels  were  captured  by  American  enter 
prise,  from  the  enemy,  in  the  War  of  the  Revo 
lution.  It  was  by  this  success  solely,  that  ammu 
nition  and  clothing  were  obtained  for  our  cause, 


22  FIRST    AMERICAN 

in  the  darkest  and  most  critical  periods  of  that 
contest.  General  Washington  declared  that  this 
saved  him  from  a  retreat,  and  from  the  possible 
necessity  of  being  obliged  to  disband  the  Ameri 
can  forces.  At  one  time,  when  besieging  Bos 
ton,  there  were  but  two  barrels  of  gunpowder 
for  twenty  thousand  men  ;  two  English  ships, 
laden  with  military  stores,  came  in  sight  just 
at  that  crisis,  which  were  captured  by  Captain 
Manly,  and  appropriated  to  American  use. 

The  maritime  affairs  of  the  country,  after  the 
War  of  Independence,  were  managed  by  a  Com 
mittee,  and. we  had  no  navy  until  1794,  several 
years  after  the  present  Constitution  was  adopted. 
In  1*798,  four  years  after  its  organization,  our 
little  navy  humbled  the  fierce  corsair  in  the 
Mediterranean,  and  gave  promise  of  the  future 
glory  which  it  achieved  for  the  country  in  1812. 

SECTION  m. 

It  is  remarkable  that,  as  Colonists,  more  genu 
ine  American  spirit  was  discoverable  in  behalf  of 
commerce,  than  after  we  attained  our  nationality. 
Then  it  penetrated  into  dangerous  shoals  and 
eand-banks.  It  sent  -men  of  science  twice  into 


EXPLORING   EXPEDITION.  23 

distant  parts  to  observe  the  transit  of  Yenus 
over  the  sun,  and  which  duty,  in  consideration 
of  the  imperfect  construction  of  instruments  at 
that  period,  was  performed  with  astonishing 
accuracy.  But,  from  the  Declaration  of  Inde 
pendence  to  the  Second  War  with  England,  in 
1812,  not  a  dollar  was  expended  by  government 
to  aid  a  scientific  exploration,  with  the  exception 
of  the  small  amount  appropriated  for  an  expe 
dition  to  the  Rocky  Mountains. 

The  Americans  enjoyed  the  entire  carrying 
trade  during  the  French  Revolution,  when  all 
Europe  was  in  arms,  and  this  gave  our  country 
an  impetus  to  greatness,  and  an  increase  in 
wealth,  without  a  modern  parallel. 

This,  as  might  have  been  anticipated,  awakened 
jealousy  on  the  part  of  France  and  England, 
and,  in  1806,  led  to  exactions  on  our  commerce. 
The  Berlin  and  Milan  decrees  followed  in  1807, 
and  caused  non-intercourse,  which  resulted  in  the 
war  of  1812.  Our  navy  had  not  been  then  pro 
perly  increased,  and  though  it  won  imperishable 
glory  on  the  seas,  we  merged  from  the  conflict 
with  a  weak  commercial  marine.  But,  after  the 
war,  commerce  again  took  its  onward  march,  our 
fisheries  extended  themselves  from  our  own  coasts 


24  FIRST    AMERICAN 

to  the  shores  of  Brazil,  around  all  the  capes  of 
the  Pacific  and  Indian  oceans  to  the  Maldives 
and  Islands  of  Japan. 

Cotton,  which  had  been  several  years  before 
introduced  into  the  country  merely  as  a  botani 
cal  experiment,  now  became  an  article  of  pri 
mary  importance,  and  took  rank  over  all  else, 
while  the  machinery  of  the  North  was  at  once 
ready  to  fabricate  it,  and  millions  of  the  race 
were  soon  clothed  in  this  material. 

From  that  period  manufacturers  began  to  in 
fluence  national  economy.  The  sugar  of  the 
South,  and  flax  of  the  West,  were  then  brought 
into  general  use.  Internal  improvements  soon 
developed  new  markets  for  both  agricultural  and 
manufacturing  articles ;  the  necessaries  of  life 
were  at  the  command  of  all  ;  the  inhabitants  of 
the  interior  sought  the  commerce  of  the  sea 
board,  while  the  traveller  from  the  seaboard 
penetrated  into  the  interior.  Thus  was  the  great 
impulse  given  to  individual  labor,  which  indi 
rectly  opened  the  resources  of  the  nation. 
In  laboring  for  themselves  they  benefited  their 
neighbors,  and  soon,  almost  by  intuition,  con 
cluded  that  this  labor,  divided  among  the  three 
great  interests  of  the  nation,  would  best  sub- 


EXPLORING   EXPEDITION.  25 

serve  the  happiness  of  the  whole.  This  called 
for  the  merchants.  They  sent  their  keels  into 
unknown  seas,  and,  in  a  sober  business  spirit, 
they  sacrificed  to  utility.  They  caused  the  na 
tional  industry  to  combine  all  the  elements  of 
productiveness,  so  that  every  atom  should  bear 
its  fair  proportion  in  the  great  result. 

Our  fathers,  in  the  midst  of  gloom  and  adver 
sity,  saw  with  prescience  the  rising  glory  of  the 
western  orb.  They  beheld  afar  the  gardens  they 
planted  and  the  treasures  which  would  be  un 
folded  to  their  children  through  the  shedding  of 
their  blood ! 

The  knowledge  of  the  most  enlightened  nations 
was  confined  to  a  circuit  of  but  a  few  thousand 
miles,  several  years  after  G-alileo  had  taught  the 
sublime  doctrine,  that  the  eighty  millions  of  fixed 
stars  seen  through  a  telescope  were  centres  of 
other  systems.  The  mere  existence  of  the  Pacific 
ocean  was  unknown  until  1513.  Then  Balboa,  a 
Spanish  commander,  crossed  the  ridge,  which 
divides  the  Andes  Mountains  at  the  Isthmus  of 
Darien.  Immediately  it  became  a  desideratum 
to  open  a  passage,  by  sea,  to  this  unexplored 
ocean,  and  thus  to  reach  the  Moluccas  and 
India  possessions  of  the  Spanish  crown. 

m 


26  FIRST   AMERICAN 


SECTION   IV. 

Charles  the  Fifth  sent  Magellan,  in  1520,  for 
that  purpose,  and  the  straits  of  his  name  bear 
witness  how  he  fulfilled  the  trust ! 

He  ascertained  the  southern  limit  of  this  west 
ern  continent ;  and  is  said  to  have  wept  in  tri 
umph,  as  this  mighty  ocean  appeared  before  him. 
And  while  the  Pacific  was  traversed  and  the 
Spice  Islands  reached,  Magellan  fell  ingloriously 
by  the  spear  of  a  native.  His  labors  and  suc 
cesses  were  second  to  no  voyager,  save  Columbus. 
And  he  must  ever  bear  the  palm  of  immortality, 
because  he  opened  the  pathway  to  a  new  hemis 
phere  !  which  was  soon  penetrated  by  others, 
who  found  New  Holland,  New  Zealand,  and 
numerous  other  islands  in  the  Indian,  Pacific  and 
Southern  oceans.  When  the  fact  became  known, 
as  to  what  Magellan  and  his  successors  had  done, 
the  greatest  excitement  prevailed  among  com 
mercial  nations.  The  Court  of  Seville  tried  to 
keep  secret  this  new  route  to  the  Moluccas.  But 
this  only  roused  other  nations  ;  the  Hollanders 
soon  doubled  Cape  Horn,  and  with  incredible 
energy  the  extent  of  the  southern  hemisphere, 


EXPLORING   EXPEDITION.  27 

in  this  western  world,  was  made  known.  The 
history  of  the  enterprise  of  our  own  land  teaches 
the  impossibility  of  computing  the  results  of  sci 
entific  research  in  advance. 

We  know  that  England's  efforts  for  a  northwest 
passage  to  India  led  to  the  discovery  of  the  North 
American  continent.  We  know  that  the  Hud 
son  Bay  Company  was  opened  by  the  same 
means.  And  neither  Cabot,  Hudson,  Davis,  or 
Baffin  dreamed  of  the  Newfoundland  cod  fish 
eries  and  the  whale  fisheries  of  Davis'  Straits, 
which  were  opened  in  the  same  unexpected 
manner.  Mr.  Reynolds  declared  that  no  insuper 
able  obstacle  remained  to  prevent  the  final  and 
complete  success  of  English  enterprise  for  this 
northwest  passage.  He  showed  that  nearly  the 
whole  extent  had  been  traced  on  a  map,  and  that 
the  effort  was  commended  by  all  men  of  sense. 
"Let  her  have  it,"  said  the  true  American,  "a 
nobler  field  and  a  wider  range  has  opened  the 
South  to  us,"  as  he  pressed  upon  the  attention 
of  Congress  the  necessity  of  a  voyage  of  disco 
very,  with  scientific  appliances,  to  increase  our 
national  knowledge  of  the  Southern  and  Pacific 
oceans. 

In   1826-7,   Mr.   Reynolds  first    brought  the 


28  FIRST   AMERICAN 

importance  of  this  subject  before  Congress,  ac 
companied  by  petitions  from  inhabitants  of  the 
several  States,  praying  the  aid  of  the  govern 
ment  to  carry  the  same  into  effect.  Among 
these  were  a  memorial  from  the  State  of  New 
York,  dated  October  19th,  1827,  signed  by  the 
Lieutenant-Governor,  Speaker  of  the  House  of 
Representatives,  and  almost  the  entire  Legisla 
ture.  One  from  North  Carolina,  with  the  high 
officials  of  that  State,  and  its  House  of  Commons. 
A  third  from  Virginia,  dated  Richmond,  Jan 
uary  1,  1828,  sustained  by  the  Speaker  of  the 
House  of  Delegates,  and  most  of  the  members 
of  her  Legislature.  And  a  very  earnest  appeal 
from  the  Maryland  Legislature,  accompanied  by 
a  cogent  preamble  and  resolutions. 

The  House  appointed  a  Committee  to  consider 
the  application,  who  entertained  a  favorable 
opinion  of  Mr.  Reynolds'  novel  project ;  and 
who,  desirous  to  promote  inquiry,  moved  its 
special  reference  to  the  Navy  Department.  Dur 
ing  the  interval  between  the  first  and  second 
sessions  of  that  Congress,  the  proposed  expedi 
tion  was  much  discussed  in  the  public  journals, 
and  it  is  a  significant  fact  that  not  a  solitary 
press  in  the  country  opposed  the  measure.  While 


EXPLORING   EXPEDITION.  29 

the  commercial  community,  and  particularly  such 
as  were  interested  in  the  fishery,  whale,  or  fur 
interest,  came  to  the  support  of  Mr.  Reynolds' 
measure,  as  one  man.  This  class  of  memorialists 
had,  more  than  others,  felt  the  want  of  this 
expedition  ;  and  their  ardor  in  its  behalf  was 
marked  with  energy.  The  memorial  from  the 
inhabitants  of  Nantucket  was  commended  to  Con 
gress  in  the  report  of  the  Secretary  of  the  Navy, 
who  evidenced  much  laborious  and  extended  re 
search,  and  set  forth  the  necessity  of  protection 
to  our  commerce  in  the  Southern  Ocean,  with  a 
zeal  becoming  its  magnitude. 

The  session,  however,  was  too  near  its  close 
to  pass  a  law  on  the  subject,  and,  in  lieu  of  a 
bill,  the  House  voted  a  resolution,  affirming  the 
expediency  of  sending  one  of  our  small  public 
vessels  into  the  Pacific  and  South  Seas,  and 
requesting  the  President  of  the  United  States 
to  allow  such  facilities  to  the  Navy  Department 
as  would  enable  this  exploration  to  be  under 
taken. 

These  resolutions  reflected,  at  that  moment, 
the  sentiments  of  all  our  great  commercial  cities, 
the  Legislatures  of  the  States,  comprising  more 
than  half  the  population  of  the  Union,  and  re- 


30 


presented  on  the  floor  of  Congress,  by  one  hun 
dred  and  twenty-nine  of  its  members. 

SECTION  y. 

The  Navy  Department  went  about  the  work 
it  was  thus  empowered  to  do,  for  there  was 
neither  time  nor  pretext  for  delay.  The  Pea 
cock  was  repaired  for  the  expedition — officers 
of  approved  skill  were  ordered  to  be  in  readi 
ness — seamen  were  enlisted — books  and  mathe 
matical  instruments  ordered — and  the  aid  of 
scientific  counsel  sought  by  correspondence  with 
men  of  science  throughout  the  country. 

Samuel  L.  Southard  was  then  Secretary  of  the 
Navy,  and,  giving  to  the  expedition  the  sanction 
of  his  highly  cultivated  mind,  did  all  that  prudent 
foresight  could  suggest  to  render  it  alike  useful 
and  honorable  to  the  nation.  The  succeeding 
session  of  Congress,  the  reported  bill  of  the  pre 
ceding  one  passed  the  House  of  Representatives 
by  a  large  majority.  In  the  Senate,  too,  there 
was  known  to  have  been  a  decided  majority  in 
its  favor.  But  the  detail  of  the  plan  elicited  a 
difference  in  opinion,  and  in  the  confusion  inci 
dent  to  the  close  of  the  session,  Congress  iinally 


EXPLORING   EXPEDITION. 


adjourned  before  the  bill,  as  modified,  was  reached 
by  the  Senate.  This  was  the  termination  of 
President  Adams'  administration. 

Under  General  Jackson,  Governor  Branch  of 
North  Carolina  was  placed  over  the  Navy  De 
partment.  He  was  opposed  to  the  expedition, 
and  the  tone  and  feeling  of  the  new  administration 
corresponded  with  his  view.  "Retrenchment  and 
economy"  had  been  the  party  watchword,  and, 
under  its  specious  pretence,  the  expedition,  so 
well-matured  and  auspicious  of  such  salutary  re 
sults  to  the  country,  was  suspended ! 

It  was  then  that  Mr.  Reynolds  went  abroad 
and  gave  five  years  of  his  life  to  the  circumnavi 
gation  of  the  globe.  He  penetrated  the  South 
Seas,  and  sailed  along  the  confines  of  the  Antarc 
tic  circle.  He  confirmed,  by  personal  investiga 
tion,  all  the  information  previously  derived,  from 
others,  and,  with  an  abiding  conviction  that  honor, 
interest,  duty,  and  humanity,  called  for  this  na 
tional  expedition,  more  than  ever  before,  he 
returned  to  the  United  States,  to  that  end,  in 
1834,  and  renewed  his  labors  before  Congress, 
which  were  most  happily  triumphant. 


32  FIRST  AMERICAN 


CHAPTER    II. 

OUR  whale  ships,  in  their  untried  paths,  had, 
for  years,  been  discovering  new  reefs,  new  is 
lands,  and  new  dangers ;  and  these  facts  were 
always  communicated  to  whatever  vessels  they 
might  chance  to  meet.  Instead  of  the  beaten 
track,  these  American  whalers,  after  doubling 
Cape  Horn,  made  their  voyages  along  the  Span 
ish  main.  And,  for  more  than  thirty  years,  the 
European  constructors  of  maps  and  charts  ap 
propriated  this  very  information,  obtained  through 
Americans,  to  their  own  benefit,  and  without  ever 
alluding  to  the  name  of  the  individuals  from  whom 
the  information  was  derived. 

The  annals  of  no  other  nation  furnish  the  same 
record  of  daring  and  successful  enterprise  that  is 
presented  by  the  silent  and  unobtrusive  action  of 
the  American  fishermen ! 

Mr.  Reynolds  ascertained,  from  this  pure  and 
original  source,  the  topography  of  the  whole 


EXPLORING   EXPEDITION.  33 

range  of  seas  from  the  Pacific  to  the  Chinese 
and  Indian  oceans,  and  visited  Newport,  New 
Bedford,  and  Nantucket,  in  1828,  to  consult  the 
log  of  each  of  the  sturdy  mariners  he  might  find 
in  port,  and  to  commune  with  them  on  the  great 
commercial  importance  of  the  national  enterprise. 
So,  of  those  engaged  in  the  seal  .trade.  The 
occupation  of.  these  men  is  still  more  adventurous 
and  daring.  In  the  smallest  vessels  they  sweep 
the  rocky  shores  of  Patagonia,  and  the  islands 
around  Cape  Horn,  and  the  whole  coast  of  South 
America.  They  skirt  the  eastern  and  western 
shores  of  Africa ;  they  circle  the  islands  of  the 
Pacific  ;  plunge  into  the  Southern  Ocean,  and  are 
often  close  to  the  limits  of  the  Antarctic  circle ! 
When  the  Emperor  Alexander  of  Russia  sent  out 
two  ships  for  discovery,  they  became,  on  one  oc 
casion,  involved  in  a  thick  fog  between  the  South 
Shetland  Islands  and  Palmer's  Land  ;  to  their 
great  astonishment,  as  it  dissipated,  they  descried 
a  small  vessel,  of  fifty  tons'  burden,  between  their 
ships,  with  the  American  flag  at  the  masthead ! 
The  Russian  commander  hoisted  his  colors,  and 
sent  an  invitation  to  the  American  captain  to 
visit  his  ship.  After  the  customary  interchanges, 

the  commodore   inquired  of  the  captain   as  to 

2* 


34  FIRST   AMERICAN 

their  present  locality,  and  was  informed  that 
they  were  in  sight  of  the  South  Shetland  Isles  ; 
"  and  if  you  wish  to  visit  any  of  them  in  particu 
lar,"  added  the  American,  "it  will  afford  me 
pleasure  to  he  your  pilot."  "  We  were  felicita 
ting  ourselves,"  said  the  Russian,  "  that  we  had 
made  a  discovery,  until  the  light  showed  us  an 
American  vessel  alongside,  which  .now  offers  to 
pilot  me  into  port,  where  several  of  his  own  na 
tion  are  at  anchor !  We  must  surrender  the 
enterprise  to  you  Americans,  and  be  content  to 
follow  in  your  train.  I  behold,  before  me,  a 
pattern  for  the  oldest  nation  of  Europe,  since, 
instead  of  making  discoveries,  I  find  here  the 
American  flag,  a  small  fleet,  and  a  pilot." 

Captain  Palmer  was  the  American,  and  the 
Russian  commander,  Stanjykowitsch,  was  so 
highly  impressed,  that  he  named  the  coast  Palm 
er's  Land,  which  name  is  still  inscribe  don  Rus 
sian  charts. 

Mr.  Reynolds  afterwards  visited  the  whole  of 
the  extensive  group  of  islands  north  of  Palmer's 
Land.  In  1831,  a  British  vessel  touched  at  a 
single  spot,  and  substituted  an  English  for  the 
American  name ! 


EXPLORING   EXPEDITION.  35 

' 


SECTION   I. 

The  memorial  of  the  East  India  Marine  Soci 
ety,  fully  setting  forth  the  enterprise  of  Ameri 
cans  in  behalf  of  commerce,  and  urging  the  expe 
dition,  projected  by  Mr.  Reynolds,  slept  in  man 
uscript  until  1835,  when  it  was  communicated  to 
Congress  by  a  call  of  the  House. 

The  exposure  of  so  many  of  our  citizens  to 
shipwreck  on  seas,  on  coasts,  and  among  islands, 
without  a  chart  to  guide  them,  and  often  their 
massacre  by  savages,  for  lack  of  maritime  power 
to  enforce  respect,  had  become  alarming  to  that 
class  of  our  countrymen  engaged  in  maritime  en 
terprise  ;  for  it  was  a  well-known  fact,  that  only 
a  few  years  before,  when  the  government  sent 
the  Potomac  to  avenge  the  savage  slaughter  of 
our  citizens  on  the  coast  of  Sumatra;  on  the 
news  reaching  here  that  the  ' '  Friendship "  had 
been  captured,  the  Department  had  not  a  single 
chart  of  that  coast,  against  which  it  ordered  a 
heavy  armament !  And  the  captain,  having  to 
rely  on  his  wits,  with  such  information  as  he 
could  gather,  ran  the  frigate  on  the  shore  of 
Sumatra  before  he  knew  he  was  in  anchoring 


36  FIRST   AMERICAN 

distance  !  At  the  beginning  of  the  present  cen 
tury  we  had,  at  least,  thirty  vessels,  in  a  single 
season,  at  the  Island  of  Sumatra,  on  account  of 
its  trade  in  pepper.  And  the  English  and  Dutch 
had  almost  allowed  our  sagacious  merchants,  by 
direct  and  indirect  traffic,  a  monopoly  of  the  com 
merce  of  the  Sunda  Isles.  And  yet,  there  we 
were,  with  no  chart  by  which  to  sail  a  United 
States  vessel !  What  a  shame  !  There,  too,  were 
the  Fejee,  or  Betee  Islands.  Captain  Cook  named, 
but  did  not  visit  them.  They  consisted  of  fifty 
or  sixty,  without  any  data  by  which  their  harbors 
or  dangers  could  be  made  known. 

"We  have  seen  how  differently  other-  nations 
have  acted  under  like  ^rcumstances.  England, 
ambitious  to  rule  the  waves,  paid,  before  1770, 
three  millions  in  bounties,  to  compete  with  the 
Dutch  whale  fisheries,  and,  before  1786,  had 
drawn  six  millions,  and  upwards,  for  the  same 
end !  The  American  whale  fishermen  never  had 
a  cent  of  bounty  in  all  their  lives ! 

These  sailors,  too,  have  been  the  best  friends 
of  the  country  ;  and  the  fisheries  reach  the  inter 
ests  of  every  class  of  our  people.  Oh,  how  many 
brave  spirits  have  been  the  victims  of  mutiny 
and  massacre,  because  the  government  remained 


EXPLORING   EXPEDITION.  37 

I  _t        -r  ._   ..         .    .1 

so  long  indifferent  to  the  fate  of  seamen,  or  the 
means  to  advance  their  welfare  ! 

The  capture  of  the  ship  Mentor,  of  New  Bed 
ford,  December  6,  1831,  illustrates  our  position. 
That  vessel  struck  the  rocks  near  the  Pelew  Is 
lands,  not  then  mentioned  on  any  chart,  and,  after 
losing  an  officer  and  part  of  her  crew  among  the 
breakers,  the  captain  and  remainder  of  the  crew 
were  made  prisoners  by  the  natives.  The  recital 
of  the  death  of  some  of  these,  the  barbarous 
treatment  of  others,  and  their  escape,  as  well  as 
the  condition  of  those  left  as  hostages  in  the 
hands  of  the  Pelew  chiefs,  is  enough  to  sicken 
the  heart  of  the  most  obdurate. 


SECTION  n. 

The  question  may  now  be  asked,  "Are  the  lives 
of  our  mariners  less  precious  than  those  of  for 
eigners  ?"  We  know  that  many  ships,  freighted 
with  human  souls,  have  sailed  from  our  coasts, 
never  to  return.  Other  nations  hav£  not  paused 
under  like  circumstances,  to  consider  the  expense. 
The  French  expedition  to  ascertain  the  fate  of  La 
Perouse,  who  commanded  the  Boussole,  and  As- 


38  FIRST    AMERICAN 

trolabe,  in  1791,  was  more  creditable  to  that  go 
vernment  than  all  its  discoveries.  The  kings  of 
Denmark  bound  themselves,  by  their  coronation 
oaths,  to  protect  their  inhabitants  when  exposed 
to  the  Arctic  regions.  So,  England  no  sooner 
knew  that  several  of  her  whale  ships  were  locked 
into  the  Arctic  seas,  than  the  Admiralty  antici 
pated  the  government.  The  expedition  was  fit 
ted  out,  and  the  distinguished  Captain  Ross  ten 
dered  the  command.  And  the  French  govern 
ment,  subsequently,  on  learning  the  loss  of  the 
Silloise,  in  the  polar  seas,  offered  one  hundred 
thousand  francs  to  any  nation  that  might  extri 
cate  the  suffering  crew. 

Mr.  Reynolds  found  the  charts  given  of  the 
Pacific  defective,  and  islands,  like  the  Gallapago 
group,  without  any  chart  indications  whatever. 
The  American  whalers,  therefore,  were  the  con 
stant  prey  of  the  natives.  Our  consul,  at  Oahu, 
wrote,  at  that  time,  to  Commodore  Downs,  that 
often  fifty  or  sixty  Americans  were  confined  in 
the  fort,  and  not  a  single  whaler  entered  without 
mutiny  ensuing,  and  constant  desertion  thereby 
occurring.  Similar  reports  were  made  from  other 
consulates  ;  all  going  to  prove  that  no  commercial 
and  free  people  should  withhold  their  contribu 


EXPLORING   EXPEDITION.  39 

tions,  while  a  spot  of  ground  remains  on  the 
whole  earth  unexplored  ! 

Mr.  Reynolds  showed,  by  the  most  incontesta 
ble  evidence,  that  the  national  dignity  and  honor 
called  for  the  expedition  he  had  matured  for  the 
United  States  ;  that  our  commanding  position,  as 
a  commercial  nation,  required  it,  that  nature  and 
her  laws  must  be  better  understood,  in  a  country 
like  ours,  where  so  much  mind  is  ready  to  act 
upon  matter,  in  subserving  the  great  purposes  of 
life  ;  and  that  the  astonishing  progress  we  had 
made,  imposed  the  duty  upon  our  statesmen  of 
making  surveys  of  new  islands,  remote  seas,  and 
unknown  territory.  He,  therefore,  conceived  a 
plan  for  our  first  national  exploration,  which 
should  be  worthy  of  the  magnitude  of  its  impor 
tance  ;  and  proposed  that  an  enlightened  body 
of  naval  officers  should  be  joined  harmoniously 
with  a  corps  of  the  most  scientific  men  of  the 
country. 

Not  only  to  attain  to  high  southern  latitudes, 
but  to  explore  from  the  west  coast  of  South 
America,  running  down  the  longitude  among  the 
islands,  on  both  sides  of  the  equator,  especially 
south  to  the  very  shores  of  Asia,  was  the  field  to 
which  Mr.  Reynolds  invited  the  attention  of 


40  FIRST  AMERICAN 

Congress  and  the  country.  His  views  of  the 
detail  were  in  exact  accordance  with  those  ex 
pressed  by  Mr.  Jefferson,  in  1803,  in  instructions 
he  gave  to  Merriwether  Lewis,  for  the  expedition 
across  the  continent.  This  letter  settled  the  con 
stitutional  scruples  of  the  strictest  construction- 
ists,  and  stands  side  by  side  with  the  Delaration 
of  Independence  by  the  same  author ! 

SECTION  III. 

A  religious  not  less  than  a  commercial  view 
called  now  for  this  enterprise.  There  is  no  other 
way  to  make  known  the  "salvation  of  our  God 
unto  the  ends  of  the  earth  "  but  in  pursuing  geo 
graphy  as  a  science.  God,  in  His  wise  provi 
dence,  left  the  figure  and  magnitude  of  the  earth 
for  man's  investigation,  and  has  stimulated  this 
exertion  by  the  "unsearchable  riches  of  Christ!" 
The  Bible  and  missions  follow  the  moral  and 
political  movements  of  this  nation,  and  are  close 
to  the  American  navigator  who  ploughs  the  ocean 
for  new  islands  or  continents ! 

And  while  patriotism,  science,  and  commerce 
have  interests,  that  of  the  Protestant  faith  has 
still  more  staked  upon  these  results !  In  this 


EXPLORING   EXPEDITION.  41 

connection  with  the  utility  of  American  researches, 
let  us  remember  that  those  nations  most  prover 
bial  for  wealth  have  scarcely  a  name  in  history, 
while  the  hardship  and  adventure  of  others,  even 
though  they  failed  to  be  successful,  have  been 
entitled  to  admiration  and  respect. 

It  is  well  known  that  but  two  outlets  exist  to 
the  Northern  Polar  Seas  ;  these  are  Bhering's 
Straits  and  the  Spitzbergen  Seas.  Mr.  Reynolds 
clearly  demonstrated  why  the  British  navigators 
had  failed  in  finding  a  northwest  passage,  which 
resulted  entirely  from  adhering  pertinaciously  to 
the  injudicious  instructions  of  the  British  Ad 
miralty.  He  maintained  that  the  existence  of 
this  passage  was  no  longer  a  question  of  doubt, 
and  could  be  attained  by  keeping  mid-channel 
through  Bhering's  Straits  and  rounding  the  head 
land  of  our  continent,  thence  into  the  Seas  of 
Spitzbergen.  He  insisted,  from  the  results  of 
personal  experience,  that  ice  is  never  found  in 
the  main  ocean,  remote  from  the  land — not  even 
at  the  Pole  itself !  And  all  subsequent  investiga 
tion  has  confirmed  that  assertion. 

The  entire  surrounding  coast  of  the  North 
Polar  Seas  is  inhabited.  The  Laplanders  and 
Fins  occupy  the  European  part ;  the  Samayedes 


42  FIRST   AMERICAN 

and  other  rude  tribes  the  Asiatic  part,  and  they 
subsist  on  reindeer  and  fish — the  Esquimaux  race 
occupy  the  American  part.  Many  large  rivers  of 
Asia  send  their  sluggish  currents  of  fresh  water 
into  the  Polar  Seas.  This  cause,  on  such  an  ex 
tent  of  coast,  produces  ice,  which  is  drifted  by 
northern  currents,  in  the  spring,  between  Green 
land  and  Spitzbergen.  It  there  collects,  and  is 
finally  forced  by  pressure  into  the  adjacent  bays 
and  islands.  This  was  the  route  on  which  the 
British  expedition  was  bound,  and  necessarily 
impeded  it. 

It  was  indeed  remarkable  that  at  the  time  Mr. 
Reynolds  projected  the  first  scientific  expedition, 
there  was  more  than  one  million  and  a  half  of 
square  miles  in  the  southern  hemisphere  that  had 
never  felt  the  footprint  of  man !  Nor  had  the 
keel  of  a  single  navigator  ever  divided  its 
waters !  Who  can  tolerate  such  culpable  na 
tional  neglect?  Some  may  inquire,  were  no 
efforts  made  before  those  of  this  American  to 
explore  the  high  southern  latitudes  ?  We  answer 
that,  in  1772,  Captain  Cook,  accompanied  by 
Lieutenant  Freneau,  made  the  first  voyage  in 
search  of  a  southern  continent.  They  got  as  far 
as  sixty-eight  degrees  of  south  latitude,  and  there 


EXPLORING   EXPEDITION.  43 

encountered  ice  of  six  or  eight  inches  in  thick 
ness.  It  concentrated  around  the  vessels,  and, 
sooner  than  attempt  to  go  around  the  ice— sum 
mer  having  almost  closed — Captain  Cook  retro 
graded,  and  went  in  pursuit  of  other  discoveries 
northward. 

Had  Cook  possessed  then  the  information  Rey 
nolds  did,  in  1834,  he  would  have  selected 
another  meridian  and  pursued  his  journey  south ! 
For  Reynolds  proved  that  same  ice  to  have  come 
from  large  islands  east  from  Palmer's  Land. 


SECTION   IV. 

not  V*     !o 

In  1773,  Captain  Cook  left  New  Zealand  on 
his  second  search  for  southern  lands.  But  again 
the  ice  arrested  his  progress ;  and  he  declared  it 
his  opinion  that  the  mass  of  crystallization  ex 
tended  to  the  Pole,  or  joined  to  some  land  south 
ward,  which  must  be  as  frigid  and  sterile  as  the 
ice  itself. 

Weddell,  who  attained  in  his  day  to  a  higher 
parallel  than  had  been  reached  by  any  other 
man,  did  not  agree  with  Cook  at  all,  as  to  the 
ice  extending  to  the  Pole.  His  views  encouraged 
Mr.  Reynolds,  and  confirmed  hie  own  experience, 


44  FIRST   AMERICAN 

although  he  denied  Weddell's  assertion  that  cold 
was  more  intense  in  the  distant  Antarctic  regions 
than  in  the  Arctic.  Briscol  subsequently  went 
out  in  the  employ  of  Messrs.  Enderby,  of  London, 
in  a  whale  ship,  in  1832,  and  the  existence  of 
southern  land  seemed  to  have  had  confirmation 
by  him.  But  the  mainland  taken  by  him,  in  the 
name  of  his  sovereign,  had  been  visited  by  our 
own  sealers  fifteen  years  before,  and  furs  were 
taken  then,  by  our  people,  in  the  American 
name ! 

Mr.  Reynolds  had  beheld,  on  board  two  vessels 
— one  of  one  hundred  and  sixty,  the  other  of 
eighty  tons  burden — the  castellated  region  of 
the  Antarctic,  with  its  floating  pyramids  of  ice  ; 
and  he  declared  it  as  his  opinion,  that  the  nine 
tieth  degree,  or  South  Pole,  could  be  reached  by 
the  navigator,  and  that  the  effort  ought  to  be 
made  by  the  country,  in  connection  with  other 
objects  of  the  enterprise. 

Without  government  patronage  he  had  sought 
adventure,  and  satisfied  himself;  and  he  plead, 
earnestly,  before  the  Congress  of  his  country, 
that  it  might  sanction  his  project,  only  to  add 
new  lustre  to  the  annals  of  American  philosophy, 
and  add  nautical  glories  to  the  imperishable 


EXPLORING   EXPEDITION.  45 

honor  which  connects  itself  with  that  name.  He 
appealed  to  his  countrywomen,  at  the  same  time, 
and  contended  that  ' '  their  views  of  public  meas 
ures  were  the  silken  and  golden  threads  in  public 
opinion."  And,  when  we  consider  that  the  jew 
els  which  Isabella  suspended  from  her  person, 
enriched  the  world  with  a  continent,  when  mon- 
archs  hesitated,  and  ministers  disputed,  with  ve 
hemence  and  weak  superlativeness,  we  shall  not 
disclaim  the  fact,  that  it  was  woman,  truly,  who 
gave  new  hopes  to  liberty,  when  the  race  from 
whence  it  sprung  was  almost  lost ! 

When  our  republic  was  in  its  infancy,  the 
great  Catharine,  of  Russia,  sent  to  General 
Washington  a  request  for  the  vocabularies  of  all 
the  Indian  tribes  in  our  country.  The  result  of 
this  gave  rise  to  a  new  science,  which  she  insti 
tuted,  and  has  modified  the  grammars  and  lexi 
cons  of  every  language  in  Europe,  which  this 
science  of  philology  now  pervades. 

After  Mr.  Reynolds'  admirable  expose*  of  the 
nature  and  utility  of  the  expedition  to  the  South 
Seas,  on  the  3d  of  April,  1836,  members  of  both 
Houses  of  Congress  no  longer  doubted  it  was 
fully  worthy  of  the  patronage  of  the  government. 
And,  on  the  14th  of  the  succeeding  month,  they 


46  .        PIKST  AMERICAN 

demonstrated  that  wise  concurrence,  by  giving 
to  it  the  sanction  of  law.  It  was  clearly  manifest 
that,  by  it,  the  capital  of  human  knowledge  would 
be  extended,  the  boundaries  of  science  enlarged, 
and  a  substantial  fame  would,  thereby,  be  added 
to  our  great  republic. 

SECTION  v. 

Our  statesmen  were,  then,  convinced  that  it 
was  the  policy  of  the  government  to  point  out 
harbors  for  our  seamen,  and  save  them  from 
captivity,  shipwreck,  and  famine,  on  unknown 
coasts,  rather  than  to  keep  a  useless  fleet  up  the 
Mediterranean,  to  contract  the  follies  and  vices  of 
European  aristocracies  ;  they,  therefore,  rightly 
estimated  the  value  of  this  American  deed,  by 
the  moral  sublimity  of  the  motives  which  had 
incited  it.  Congratulatory  letters  from  men, 
eminent  for  learning  and  science,  came  to  Mr. 
Reynolds  from  all  sections  of  the  country  ;  and 
a  full  interchange  of  their  views  as  to  the  per 
sonnel  of  the  expedition  was  thus  elicited. 

Hon.  J.  K.  Paulding  suggested  the  frigate 
"Macedonia"  should  be  attached  for  the  benefit 
of  scientific  pursuits  and  occupations  ;  and  that 


EXPLORING  EXPEDITION.  47 

Captain  Catesby  Jones  should  be  appointed  to  the 
command.  James  E.  De  Kay  thought  the  em 
ployment  of  scientific  citizens  of  the  country  a 
sine  qua  non,  with  such  an  harmonious  arrange 
ment  as  should  impartially  reward  whoever  might 
merit  distinction.  Professor  Silliman,  of  Yale 
College,  regarded  the  expedition  so  vital  to  na 
tional  honor,  whether  as  connected  with  science, 
navigation,  commerce,  or  the  humanity  of  the 
country,  that  he  urged,  with  great  pertinacity, 
the  acquisition  of  the  highest  scientific  talent  it 
possessed,  without  regard  to  the  expense  ;  that 
meteorology,  zoology,  volcanoes,  earthquakes, 
geology,  mineralogy,  magnetism,  and  electricity,, 
osteology,  entomology,  ornithology,  and  natural 
history,  generally,  might  each  command  its  ap 
propriate  investigation. 

Hon.  Benjamin  Rodman,  of  New  Bedford,  the 
home  of  the  mariner,  gave  vent  to  his  national 
and  natural  fervor  at  the  same  period,  when  ad 
dressing  his  American  brother : 

"I  congratulate  you  on  the  success  of  your  darling  plan,  and 
now  there  is  a  hope  of  a  national  duty  being  performed.  I  see  no 
way  that  we  can  look  for  improvement,  but  by  the  means  which, 
through  your  exertions,  more  than  those  of  any  other  man  living, 
are  now  appropriated  for  it ;  and  may  Heaven  bless  you  and  the 
enterprise." 


48  FIRST   AMERICAN 

Thus  did  Mr.  Reynolds  soon  concentrate  the 
wisdom  and  virtue  of  the  people.  The  seamen 
felt  a  thrill  of  inward  joy  to  find  preparations  for 
a  more  stable  protection,  and  the  merchant 
breathed  more  freely  when  he  saw  that  the  moral 
influence  of  the  nation  was  about  to  be  cast  upon 
the  side  of  commercial  intelligence  and  enter 
prise.  But  such  had  been  the  advancement  of 
the  age,  that  geographical  discoveries  and  an 
amended  chart,  would  not  alone  satisfy  the  men 
or  the  wants  of  our  country.  Animate  as  well 
as  inanimate  creation  needed,  therefore,  a  critical 
examination.  And  commanders  of  liberal  minds 
and  expanded  views  became  essentially  necessary 
to  the  expedition.  In  this  spirit,  Hon.  Jos.  Dela- 
field,  President  of  the  Lyceum  of  Natural  His 
tory  of  New  York,  after  thanking  Mr.  Reynolds 
for  the  fund  of  information  he  had  been,  through 
him,  enabled  to  communicate  to  that  Institution, 
said : 

'Your  [Reynolds']  efforts  have  been  so  far  crowned  with  suc 
cess.  Your  former  services,  present  exertions,  and  the  better  part 
of  a  life  devoted  to  the  South  Sea  discoveries,  have  identified  you 
with  the  expedition.  We  have  long  watched  your  untiring  exer 
tions  in  this  matter,  and  trust  the  time  has  arrived  when  the  wishes 
of  your  friends  are  to  be  gratified  in  learning  that  the  superintend 
ence  or  direction  of  the  civil  department  is  to  be  chiefly  committed 
to  jotu" 


EXPLORING   EXPEDITION. 


SECTION  VI. 

The  time  seemed  now  to  have  arrived  when 
the  gratification  of  discharging  the  debt  for  prac 
tical  science  and  intelligence,  too  long  due  foreign 
nations,  could  be  experienced.  How  ?  By  taking 
our  national  stand  on  the  same  platform  of  prac 
tical  intelligence.  This  was  thejlrst  opportunity, 
and  is  it  wonderful  with  what  eagerness  our  wise 
and  prudent  men  embraced  it  ? 

Winslow  Lewis,  Jr.,  of  the  Society  of  Natural 
History  of  Boston,  in  common  with  other  friends, 
addressed  the  Author  of  the  expedition : 

"I  congratulate  you  on  the  successful  termination  of  your  appli 
cation  to  Congress,  in  behalf  of  a  South  Sea  Expedition.  It  was  to 
your  unmeasured  zeal  and  untiring  exertions  that  this  great  under 
taking  owes  its  existence ;  and  I  learn,  with  much  satisfaction,  that 
it  still  continues  to  have  the  advantage  of  your  personal  presence 
and  experience." 

And  as  science  as  well  as  commerce  relied  on 
this  exploration  to  enlarge  their  boundaries,  Mr. 
Lewis  urged  the  propriety  of  a  practical  anato 
mist  to  accompany  the  expedition,  with  a  special 
view  to  the  advancement  of  natural  history. 

So  desirable  did  it  seem  in  all  eyes  that  this, 
the  first  American  voyage  of  discovery,  should  ,* 


50  FIRST    AMERICAN 

worthy  of  the  genius  and  enterprise  of  the  na 
tion,  that  the  whole  mercantile  influence  of  the 
country  looked  upon  it  as  eminently  conducive  to 
the  commerce  and  navigation  of  the  country,  as 
well  as  to  human  prosperity  and  happiness. 

Hon.  H.  D.  Gilpin,  of  Philadelphia,  in  address 
ing  Mr.  Reynolds,  dwelt  upon  the  necessity  of 
calling  men  of  real  science  to  its  aid — men  of  the 
same  courage,  disinterestedness,  and  persever 
ance,  as  those  who  had  distinguished  expeditions 
of  the  kind  in  the  Old  World. 

"But,"  said  he,  "to  you  who  have  studied  the  subject  so  fully, 
and  devoted  to  it  so  much  thought  and  experience,  it  is  scarcely 
necessary  to  say  anything  as  to  the  contemplated  arrangement." 

It  was  so  manifest  that  Mr.  Reynolds,  in  ma 
turing  his  plan,  had  consulted  all  the  great  Euro 
pean  voyagers  of  discovery,  that  there  appeared 
an  entire  unanimity  in  the  conclusion  of  the 
scientific  corps  of  the  country,  as  to  the  solid 
additions  which  would  be  added  thereby  to  the 
treasures  of  knowledge.  So  we  find  Hon.  Henry 
Junius  Nott,  suggesting  the  expediency  of  con 
fining  men  to  a  single  branch  of  science,  if  possi 
ble,  and  insisting  on  the  importance  of  having 
an  individual  familiar  with  the  languages  and 
with  philology. 


EXPLORING   EXPEDITION.  51 

• 

"  The  commercial  investigations,"  said  Mr.  Nott,  to  the  author, 
"  I  presume  you  will  take  under  your  own  charge.  I  am  happy  to 
learn  the  voyage  to  the  South  Pacific  is  resolved  on,  and  one  of 
your  activity,  perseverance,  and  practical  good  sense,  is  to  be  con 
nected  with  it." 

"I  have  often  had  this  question  put  to  me,"  writes  Captain 
Thomas  AP  0.  Jones,  "as  to  '•what  situation,  if  any,  will  Mr. 
Reynolds  occupy  in  the  expedition  f 

"  The  answer,  I  presume,  is  with  yourself;  for  it  cannot  be  de 
nied  that  to  you,  and  your  unwearied  exertions,  is  due  the  credit 
of  so  interesting  the  public  on  the  subject,  as  to  induce  Congress  to 
pass  the  law.  Who,  then,  has  a  better  claim  to  participate  in  its 
toils,  and  to  share  its  honors,  than  he  who  may  justly  be  called  the 
originator  of  the  voyage  ?  Who  can  bring  so  much  valuable  know 
ledge,  derived  from  various  sources,  some  of  which  you  alone  have 
been  permitted  to  draw  from,  as  you  could  f  I  mean  not  to  flatter, 
when  I  say,  not  another  citizen  of  the  United  States. 

"Then  it  cannot  be  doubted  but  that  any  commander,  qualified 
to  conduct  the  enterprise  as  the  law  contemplates,  as  well  as  the 
executive  head  under  whose  auspices  it  will  be  sent  out,  will  gladly 
avail  themselves  of  your  services,  to  aid  them  in  organizing  the 
scientific  department,  and  further  identify  you  with  the  expedition, 
by  assigning  you  some  honorable  station  in  it." 

Captain  Jones,  in  this  same  letter,  showed,  by 
luminous  argument,  why  a  frigate  should  be  at 
tached  to  the  expedition  •  why  able  officers  should 
be  engaged  for  that  particular  service  ;  why  it 
should  be  both  of  a  military  and  scientific  char 
acter  ;  and  why  Mr.  J.  N.  Reynolds,  the  great 
projector,  was  entitled  to  paramount  considera 
tion  in  its  connection. 

The  fact  that  the  United  States  had,  up  to 
that  moment,  done  nothing  but  abandon  its  own 


52  FIRST   AMERICAN 

• 

survey  of  the  coast ;  that  its  books,  maps,  and 
charts,  were  but  the  imperfect  productions  of 
private  individuals  ;  that  England,  France,  Russia, 
and  even  Spain,  had  acquired  a  more  accurate 
knowledge  of  the  Atlantic  and  Pacific  seas,  was 
continually  humiliating  Americans,  and  subject 
ing  them  to  national  and  individual  mortification 
abroad.  In  this  view  of  the  case,  Hon.  Caleb 
Gushing,  present  Attorney-General  of  the  United 
States,  then  a  member  of  Congress,  thus  ad 
dressed  Mr.  Reynolds  : 

"  I  think  great  credit  is  due  to  you  for  the  successful  exertions 
you  have  made  to  awaken  the  attention  of  the  public,  and  of  Con 
gress,  to  this  subject;  and  I  hope  that  justice  will  be  done  to  you 
iu  the  arrangements  to  be  made  for  the  expedition." 

When  at  Madrid,  Don  Martin  Fernandez  de 
Navarette,  a  distinguished  author  and,  then,  su- 
perviser  of  the  government  bureau  of  maps  and 
charts,  in  showing  Mr.  Cushing  the  advances  of 
science,  in  all  other  enlightened  nations,  referred 
to  the  total  absence  of  any  from  the  opulent  na 
tion  of  the  United  States.  For,  even  at  that 
time,  Topino  had  reaped  precious  results  in  the 
Mediterranean  for  Spain,  and  she  had  not  been 
idle  in  collecting  charts  of  the  East  and  West 
India  seas. 


EXPLORING   EXPEDITION.  63 


CHAPTER  in. 

THERE  was  another  problem  which  this  expe 
dition  was  well  calculated  to  solve,  and  in  which 
every  American  has  the  deepest  interest ;  and 
this  was  the  source  of  the  aboriginal  population 
of  America.  And  strong  hopes  were  now  enter 
tained  that  some  American  might  by  these  means 
explain  it.  We  had  already  taken  the  prize  medal 
at  the  Royal  Institute  of  Paris,  for  the  best  essay 
on  the  original  languages  of  our  country  ;  Mr. 
Duponceau,  our  countryman,  was  the  author. 
But  the  fault  of  our  people  has  been  to  study 
man  too  little,  and  hence  the  neglect  of  his  dis 
tinguishing  characteristic,  speech. 

In  order  to  disseminate  the  benefits  of  our  well 
organized  society,  and  to  extend  the  blessings  of 
our  heaven  ordained  government,  we  are  called, 
as  a  people,  to  place  high  before  mankind  our 
elevated  system  of  morals,  and  our  pure  Protes 
tant  religion. 


54  FIRST    AMERICAN 

Who  doubts  that  the  science  of  philology,  now 
eliciting  the  attention  of  the  most  remarkable 
talent  of  Europe,  got  its  first  impulse  from  a 
woman  ?  We  all  know  that,  when  Catharine  the 
Great,  of  Russia,  made  her  vocabulary  of  two 
hundred  names,  and  sent  it  to  President  Wash 
ington,  for  specimens  of  the  Indian  languages  of 
North  America,  which  he  furnished,  that  she  no 
more  penetrated  the  vastness  of  that  effort  to 
the  world,  than  did  Sir  Humphrey  Davy  com 
prehend  the  brilliant  results  to  chemical  science, 
when  he  deduced  observations  from  a  frog,  sus 
pended  on  an  iron  hook !  No  more  than  New 
ton,  as  he  watched  the  apple  which  fell  from  his 
tree,  foresaw  its  effect  on  the  laws  of  gravitation ! 

The  facts,  then,  alone  are  needed,  to  bring  to 
philology  the  prestige  Cuvier  has  given  to 
geology !  These  must  be  had  by  studying  the 
unwritten  languages  of  the  earth.  In  no  other 
way,  can  we  reach  the  affinity  one  nation  bears  to 
another.  This  science  already  has  dispelled  much 
that  was  fabulous  and  superstitious.  The  gypsies, 
a  remarkable  race,  dispersed  over  Europe,  and 
occasionally  migrating  to  our  own  country,  are 
shown  by  their  language  to  belong  to  Hindoslan, 
and  not  Egypt,  as  was  supposed.  The  Hunga- 


EXPLORING  EXPEDITION.  56 

rian  and  Laplander,  though  geographically  apart, 
are  found  to  have  a  common  origin.  The  Sand 
wich-Islander  and  the  inhabitant  of  Otaheite, 
though  twenty-five  thousand  miles  distant, 
sprang  from  one  family !  Seeing,  therefore,  how 
great  an  addition  might  be  made  to  this  science, 
by  the  American  exploration  to  the  South  Seas, 
Hon.  John  Pickering,  of  Massachusetts,  offered 
Mr.  Reynolds  his  suggestions  on  the  great  impor 
tance  of  employing  a  competent  individual  for  this 
branch  of  knowledge,  in  which,  so  much  of 
moment  to  the  country  might  be  attained. 

l 

SECTION   I. 

Nor  were  his  thoughts  on  this  matter  peculiar, 
for  we  find  similar  suggestions,  supported  by 
argument  and  learning,- from  the  pen  of  the  dis 
tinguished  Charles  Anthon  of  New  York.  It  has 
been  a  favorite  theory  with  the  learned  professor, 
that  the  early  races  of  the  American  continent 
were  identical  with  those  from  whence  the  inhabi 
tants  of  the  South  Sea  Islands  have  descended. 
The  mummies  found  in  the  caves  of  the  West, 
with  the  accompanying  fabrics,  strongly  resemble 
those  of  the  Sandwich,  and  other  islands  of  the 


66  FIRST    AMERICAN 

Pacific.  The  language,  which  would  decide  the 
question,  he  thought,  the  expedition  would  then 
test.  All  the  knowledge  of  the  Indo-Germanic 
languages  was  acquired  by  this  science,  and  this 
might  be  the  time  to  fill  the  gap  in  the  early  his 
tory  of  the  American  nation ! 

Mr.  Reynolds,  like  his  friend,  had  given  much 
research  to  this  subject,  and  they  alike  concluded, 
as  we  believe  justly,  that  the  North  American 
Indians  never  were  the  original  settlers  of  American 
soil ! 

As  might  have  been  expected,  the  joy  of  Pro 
fessor  Anthon  was  soon  indicated  to  Mr.  Reynolds, 
and  supposing  he  had  accepted  the  appointment 
of  corresponding  secretary,  in  the  intended  South 
Sea  expedition,  he  referred  to  it  as  a  just  mark 
of  executive  favor  ;  and  adds  : 

u  If  I  know  yon  well  (and  onr  long  acquaintance  leads  me  to  think 
I  have  some  claim  to  that  privilege),  no  one  could  have  been  selected 
at  the  head  of  the  scientific  corps,  better  calculated  to  bring  all 
things  into  full  operation,  and  to  direct  them  in  such  a  way,  as 
must  lead  to  ultimate  success.  A  mere  naval  officer  would  not  have 
answered  for  such  a  post.  A  mere  civilian  would  have  been 
equally  unfit.  An  individual  was  required,  who  should  be  conver 
sant  with  both  elements,  and  in  whom  enlarged  and  liberal  views 
should  be  found.  Not  tho  result  of  information  obtained  from 
others,  ~bv,t  the  offspring  of  his  own  matured  and  manly  intellect. 
I  am  glad  to  find  that  our  executive  has  had  the  good  sense  and 
discrimination  to  select  such  an  individual.  It  would  have  been 


EXPLORING   EXPEDITION.  57 

too  bad  for  another  to  have  reaped  the  harvest  of  praise,  after 
your  untiring  exertions  had  fostered  so  goodly  a  crop.  Let  me  con 
gratulate  you,  and  express  the  earnest  hope  of  the  final  success, 
which  awaits  yourself,  your  companions,  and  our  common  country." 

Professor  Josiah  F.  Gribbs,  of  Yale  College, 
soon  seconded  the  motion  of  Professor  Anthon, 
for  an  anthropologist  and  philologist.  To  the 
former,  the  physical  conformations,  features, 
complexions,  habits,  customs,  political  institu 
tions,  languages,  traditions,  literature,  and,  above 
all,  the  moral  and  religious  impressions  of  the 
people,  belonged  for  investigation.  To  the  lat 
ter,  the  phonology,  or  sound  of  language,  its  rad 
ical  words,  its  syntax,  etc.  Thus,  the  connection 
of  the  different  tribes  of  men  can  be  learned,  and 
their  common  origin  defined  ;  their  progress  and 
present  location.  This  discovery  in  language  is 
a  new  development  of  the  human  mind,  and  will 
become  the  best  means  of  learning  its  operations. 

Except  the  mountains  of  the  Moon,  in  Central 
Africa,  the  South  Sea  explorations  promised 
more  new  facts  from  an  investigation  of  the 
animal  and  vegetable  kingdoms,  than  any  part 
of  the  known  world.  Professor  Charles  Gray, 
of  the  Lyceum  of  Natural  History,  New  York, 
zealous  in  support  of  the  expedition,  communi- 

3* 


58  FIRST    AMERICAN 

cated  with  Mr.  Reynolds  upon  the  necessity  of  a 
practical  botanist  to  be  connected  with  the  expe 
dition.  We  remember  that  the  East  India  Com 
pany  set  an  example,  worthy  of  imitation,  in  the 
splendid  botanical  collections  of  her  Wallich  ; 
and,  in  a  commercial,  as  well  as  purely  scientific 
view,  it  seemed  impossible  to  compute  the  value 
of  vegetable  discoveries  to  the  enterprise  of  the 
nation. 

Zoology,  too,  came  in  for  its  proper  and  im 
portant  share  in  Mr.  Reynolds'  programme  of 
the  South  Sea  expedition.  He  perceived  that 
the  original  character  of  the  inhabitants  of  the 
islands  of  the  Pacific  was  rapidly  changing  ;  that 
the  globe  itself  was  occupied  by  a  race  of  people, 
totally  unlike  their  early  progenitors,  so  that  it 
was  impossible  for  us  to  say  from  whence  our 
own  species  sprang  ;  and  that  very  much  may  be 
gathered  from  the  animals,  which  are  found,  in  a 
newly  discovered  country,  to  give  an  idea  of  the 
character  of  its  inhabitants.  The  tortoise,  huge 
and  helpless,  for  example,  would  not  have  been 
found  at  the  Galapagos  had  it  not  been  evidently 
useful  to  that  people.  With  these  ideas,  Dr. 
Charles  Pickering,  of  Philadelphia,  pressed  upon 
Mr.  Reynolds  the  great  propriety  of  giving  to 


EXPLORING   EXPEDITION.  69 

this  branch  of  science  the  amplest  scope  for  in 
vestigation. 

SECTION    II. 

The  patriotism  which  dictated  Mr.  Reynolds 
to  collect  all  possible  light,  in  aid  of  the  expedi 
tion,  was  fully  impressed,  at  this  period,  upon 
the  intelligence  of  the  country.  The  safety  of 
our  commerce,  and  our  seamen,  and  the  national 
honor,  were  all  involved.  The  three  great  pow 
ers  of  Europe  had  concentrated  all  the  knowledge 
of  a  maritime  nature  on  the  globe,  and  now, 
the  first  step  to  place  us  in  their  rank  in  mari 
time  discoveries,  was  presented !  Hon.  A.  Beau 
mont,  of  the  House  of  Representatives,  and  Pe 
ter  S.  Duponceau,  of  Philadelphia,  expressed 
similar  views  in  their  letters  to  the  author  of  the 
expedition,  at  the  same  period. 

When  the  bill,  authorizing  the  exploration,  was 
on  its  final  passage  in  the  House,  a  very  large 
majority  of  the  members  voted  for  it,  headed  by 
the  Hon.  John  Quincy  Adams.  It  was  then  that 
the  Hon.  Mr.  Hamer,  of  Ohio,  the  friend  and 
neighbor  of  Mr.  Reynolds,  addressed  that  honor 
able  body.  Mr.  H.  said  : — 

"He  had  known  Reynolds  from  hia  boyhood,  and  knew  him 


60  FIRST   AMERICAN 

well.  He  came  from  his  neighborhood,  in  Ohio,  where  he  was 
educated,  and  studied  law.  He  was  a  man  of  as  pure  principles 
and  fair  character,  as  any  man  on  that  floor.  His  efforts  in  this 
cause  had  been  wholly  free  from  any  selfish  considerations,  and,  in 
all  he  had  done,  in  the  last  seven  or  eight  years,  to  promote  it,  he 
had  been  actuated  by  those  feelings  of  patriotism  which  should  ani 
mate  every  American  heart.  He  had  no  doubt,  if  the  expedition 
was  authorized,  Mr.  Reynolds  would  be  employed  to  accompany 
it ;  for  he  possessed  more  information  in  regard  to  those  seas,  and 
was,  every  way,  better  calculated  to  make  the  expedition  what  it 
ought  to  be,  than  any  man  within  the  circle  of  his  acquaintance. 
He  was  in  possession  of  all  the  facts  in  reference  to  that  portion  of 
the  globe  which  was  to  be  examined  and  explored,  and  he  possessed 
the  entire  confidence  of  all  who  knew  him.  His  writings  had  at 
tracted  the  atti  ntion  of  men  of  letters ;  and  literary  societies  and 
institutions  had  conferred  upon  him  some  of  the  highest  honors 
they  had  to  bestow.  Still,  this  gentleman,  who  was  an  honor  to 
Ohio,  and  the  whole  country,  might  not  accompany  the  expedition. 
But  that  fact  would  have  no  influence  upon  his  course.  Mr.  H.  was 
authorized  to  say  that  Mr.  Reynolds'  zeal  for  the  success  of  the 
measure,  and  for  the  interest  of  the  expedition,  would  continue  un 
abated  ;  and  whatever  he  could  do  to  ensure  its  prosperous  termi 
nation,  would  be  cheerfully  performed." 

Public  opinion,  the  great  moral  element  of 
triumph,  was  now  strongly  on  the  side  of  this 
national  enterprise.  Members  of  eight  different 
State  Legislatures,  viz. :  New  York,  New  Jersey, 
Rhode  Island,  Pennsylvania,  Maryland,  Virginia, 
North  Carolina  and  Ohio,  had  recommended  it 
to  Congress. 

The  East  India  Marine  Society  of  Massachu 
setts,  whose  members  had  doubled  either  Cape 
Horn  or  the  Cape  of  Good  Hope,  pressed  it  with 


EXPLORING   EXPEDITION.  61 

zeal  and  fervor.  Two  distinguished  commanders 
in  the  American  Navy,  Commodore  Downs  and 
Captain  Jones,  denned  its  utility,  and  urged  it  as 
a  practical  business  affair,  and  adopted  every 
view  expressed  by  Mr.  Reynolds,  in  his  able 
address  before  the  Committee  of  Naval  Affairs. 

The  subject  of  the  expedition,  be  it  remem 
bered,  had  been  for  eight  years  before  Congress, 
when  it  was  finally  authorized.  It  had  been 
twice  adopted-  by  the  House,  and  once  by  the 
Senate  of  the  United  States.  The  first  of  these 
resolutions  passed  in  1827,  '28,  the  bill  in  1828, 
'29,  which  was  not  acted  upon  by  the  Senate  for 
want  of  time.  The  want  of  funds  prevented  the 
first  action  of  Congress  being  made  effective. 
No  thoughts  of  disunion  then  entered  into  their 
calculations  of  this  expedition.  On  the  contrary, 
nothing  seemed  so  well  designed  to  render  a 
people,  one  and  indivisible. 

It  was  in  all  respects  such  a  one  as  Thomas 
Jefferson  endorsed,  when  he  sent  Lewis  and  Clark 
to  the  Rocky  Mountains,  to  open  the  resources 
of  the  country,  commune  with  the  nations,  and 
add  to  the  treasures  of  science  and  general 
national  intelligence.  It  was  but  a  counterpart 
of  those  instructions,  given  by  Mr.  Monroe  in 


62  FIRST   AMERICAN 

1822,  to  Major  Long,  and  those  afterwards  sub 
mitted  to  Mr.  Featherstonhaugh,  the  geologist, 
when  the  government  sent  him  to  Arkansas. 

Mr.  Hassler  made  charts  of  materials  he  got 
within  the  very  sight  of  our  coast.  G-edney  had 
discovered  a  channel  at  the  City  of  New  York, 
two  feet  deeper  than  any  known  to  the  oldest 
inhabitant,  or  the  most  sagacious  pilot.  If  such 
exhibitions  of  nautical  science  were  to  be  made 
upon  our  constantly  travelled  waters,  how  much 
more  did  the  people  of  the  United  States  engaged 
in  the  commercial  marine,  need  this  survey  in  the 
South  Seas  ?  For  as  far  North  or  South  as  our 
naval  fleet  had  penetrated,  it  never  lost  view  of 
our  commercial  marine.  Commerce  is  to  our 
country  the  very  pulsation  of  life !  Its  myste 
rious  channels  make  the  revenues,  and  supply 
the  means  by  which  we  exist  as  a  nation  !  It  is 
the  duty  of  the  supreme  legislature,  and  the 
interest  of  the  sovereign  people,  therefore,  to 
give  every  facility  to  its  advancement ! 

SECTION  iri. 

Hon.  Michael  Hoffman,  Chairman  of  the  Com 
mittee  of  Naval  Affairs  in  1828,  requested  Mr. 


EXPLORING   EXPEDITION.  63 

Reynolds  to  furnish  in  writing,  or  otherwise,  the 
advantages  to  commerce,  by  the  exploring  expe 
dition  to  the  South.  So  entirely  satisfactory  was 
Mr.  Reynolds'  response,  so  full  of  interesting 
detail,  so  familiar  with  the  rank  of  every  article 
of  commercial  benefit,  that  on  the  14th  of  March, 
Mr.  Ripley  reported,  that  the  infornmtion  the 
committee  had  thus  derived,  was  so  entirely  cor 
roborated  by  that  furnished  through  experienced 
naval  officers,  who  had  made  reports  by  order  of 
the  Secretary  of  the  Navy,  on  the  subject,  that 
they  recommended  the  appropriation  asked  by 
Mr.  Reynolds,  and  reported  a  bill  for  that  pur 
pose.  Hon.  Samuel  L.  Southard,  then  Secretary 
of  the  Navy,  gave  briefly,  but  cogently,  his  rea 
sons  for  favoring  the  expedition  Mr.  Reynolds 
had  projected. 

In  1835,  Mr.  Reynolds'  report  of  September 
24th,  1828,  was  ordered  by  the  House,  and  it 
was  requested  -by  Mr.  Dickinson,  then  Secretary 
of  the  Navy,  that  it  should  be  returned  to  the 
naval  archives.  This  report  was  addressed  to 
Hon.  Samuel  L.  Southard,  and  furnishes  a  well 
digested  mass  of  facts,  in  regard  to  the  islands, 
reefs,  commerce  and  hydrography  of  the  Pacific 
and  Indian  Oceans  ;  and  which  it  is  incredible 


64  FIRST   AMERICAN 

almost  to  believe,  could  have  been  acquired  by 
the  researches  of  a  single  man,  in  the  longest 
lifetime ! 

Mr.  Reynolds  in  this  document  declared, 
"Power,  judiciously  exhibited,  to  be  the  great 
peace-maker  of  the  world  !"  He  maintained  that 
it  was  fo»  our  interest  and  honor,  to  be  acquainted 
with  the  capacities  of  the  globe,  and  to  know 
what  resources  can  be  drawn  from  the  great  com 
mon  of  nations,  the  ocean.  That  in  South 
America,  where  new  states  and  empires  had 
arisen,  our  navy  had  enforced  our  greatness  and 
our  prosperity  upon  them.  That  we  owed  it  to 
the  merchant,  who  had  put  millions  into  the  chan 
nel  of  trade,  before  one  cent  was  ever  given  by 
the  government  for  his  protection,  to  send  out 
this  United  States  naval  expedition,  on  his  ac 
count.  That  whale  ships  could  not  become  dis 
coverers  without  detriment  to  their  especial 
interest  and  business  ;  that  the  Northwest  coast 
trader  had  a  more  definite  object  and  direct  path 
than  the  whaler.  That  we  could  no  more  support 
our  national  importance  without  a  navy,  than 
our  navy  could  be  supported  without  commerce  ! 
That  we  had  not  sent  forth  a  particle  of  our 
strength,  or  expended  a  dollar  of  our  money,  to 


EXPLORING   EXPEDITION.  65 

add  to  the  commercial  and  geographical  informa 
tion,  except  in  partially  exploring  our  own  ter 
ritory  !  That  we  actually  conducted  our  prizes 
into  port,  by  the  maps  and  charts  of  the  people 
we  had  vanquished !  He  appealed  to  the  people 
of  the  United  States,  if  it  was  honorable  to 
repose  on  the  knowledge  furnished  by  other 
nations,  and  remain  all  the  time  idle  ? 

Tyre,  Greece,  Carthage,  Venice,  and  Florence, 
even  after  their  opulence  was  gone,  left  the  means 
of  acquiring  wealth  and  honor  to  succeeding  ages. 
Their  commercial  and  naval  monuments  were 
left  standing !  As  the  Argonautic  expedition 
opened  a  new  path  to  commerce,  and  aggrandized 
its  own  country,  so  have  the  adventures  of  every 
people  on  the  face  of  the  globe  gratified  the 
avarice  or  pride  of  their  country,  and  been  the 
theme  of  commemoration  for  future  ages  !  Our 
commerce  has  been  extending  everywhere  since 
we  became  a  nation,  and  yet  it  had  been  protected 
nowhere ! 

The  English,  French,  Spanish,  Danish,  Nea 
politan,  Norwegian,  and  Barbary  powers,  had 
cheated  and  insulted  us.  They  laid  out  their 
milestones  and  guide-boards,  and  kept  us  in  lead 
ing  strings  ! 


66  FIRST   AMERICAN 

"  The  spirit  ot  the  nation,"  said  Mr.  Reynolds,  "  is  aroused,  and 
will  never  sleep  again ;  honor,  justice,  feeling,  conscious  physical 
strength,  all  forbid  it.  We  fear  no  storms,  no  icebergs,  no  monsters 
of  the  deep  in  any  sea.  We  will  conduct  ourselves  with  prudence, 
discretion  and  judgment;  and  if  we  succeed,  the  glory  and  profit 
will  be  yours,  citizens  of  the  United  States.  If  we  perish  in  our 
attempts,  we  alone  shall  suffer,  for  the  very  inquiry  after  us  will 
redound  to  your  honor !" 


SECTION   IV.   • 

The  memorial  of  the  people  of  Nantucket, 
stated  that  there  were  more  than  one  hundred 
and  fifty  islands,  reefs  and  shoals,  known  to  our 
whalemen,  not  laid  d6wn  on  any  chart ;  and 
around  these,  floated  nearly  forty  thousand  tons 
of  our  shipping !  Think,  oh  think,  of  the 
amount  of  life  and  property  of  this  nation,  then 
at  the  mercy  of  concealed  dangers  ! 

Had  not  our  country  once  been  agitated  from 
centre  to  extreme  by  the  capture  of  a  few  Ameri 
can  citizens  by  the  powers  of  Barbary  ?  Did  not 
the  people  then  spontaneously  proffer  to  bear  the 
expense  of  their  liberation  ?  And  when  the  fate 
of  enterprising  navigators  depended,  probably, 
on  some  hidden  reef  or  island,  was  it  less  a 
duty  to  respond  to  the  wants  of  our  suffering 
countrymen  ?  The  touching  solicitude  Mr.  Rey- 


EXPLORING    EXPEDITION.  67 

nolds  felt  on  this  point,  is  best  expressed  in  his 
own  terse  and  beautiful  language  : 

"Everything  conspires  to  urge  us  forward  at  this  time.  The 
advantage  of  commerce  to  science  and  national  glory,  seems  now 
to  be  sealed  and  sanctified  by  the  calls  of  humanity  and  an  impe 
rious  duty.  I  wish  not  to  be  importunate,  nor  do  I  fear  that  1  am, 
for  the  accumulated  weight  of  circumstances  is  above  all  argu 
ment  and  entreaty,  as  it  strikes  the  heart  and  the  understanding 
at  the  same  time. 

u  The  future  safety  of  our  mariners  demands  this  expedition  ;  tho 
advancement  of  commerce,  and  our  navigating  interests  demand  it ; 
the  people  demand  it ;  and  our  national  honor  cannot  suffer  this 
fact  to  go  abroad,  and  not  carry  with  it  the  probability  of  some  effort 
for  future  information  and  security." 

This  appeal,  so  characteristic  of  the  intellect 
and  energy  of  the  author,  recalls  the  remarks  of 
the  gifted  Irish  orator,  Burke,  in  his  celebrated 
speech  in  the  English  Parliament,  on  American 
conciliation  : 

"  As  to  the  wealth  which  the  Colonies  have  drawn  from  the  sea 
by  their  fisheries,  you  had  all  that  matter  fully  opened  at  your  bar. 
You  surely  thought  those  acquisitions  of  value,  for  they  seemed 
even  to  excite  your  envy ;  and  yet  the  spirit  by  which  that  enter 
prising  employment  has  been  exercised,  ought  rather,  in  my  opin 
ion,  to  have  raised  your  esteem  and  admiration.  And  pray,  sir, 
what  in  the  world  is  equal  to  it?  Pass  by  the  other  parts,  and 
look  at  the  manner  in  which  the  people  of  New  England  have  of 
late  carried  on  the  whale  fisheries,  whilst  we  follow  them  among 
the  tumbling  mountains  of  ice,  and  behold  them  penetrating  into 
the  deepest  frozen  recesses  of  Hudson's  Bay,  and  Davis's  Straits ; 
whilst  we  are  looking  for  them  beneath  the  Arctic  circle,  we  hear 
that  they  have  pierced  into  the  opposite  region  of  polar  cold  ;  that 
they  are  at  tho  antipodes,  and  engaged  under  the  frozen  Serpent  of 


68  FIRST  AMERICAN 

the  South.  Falkland  Island,  which  seemed  too  remote  and  roman 
tic  an  object  for  the  grasp  of  national  ambition,  is  but  a  stage  and 
resting-place  in  the  progress  of  their  victorious  industry. 

"  Nor  is  the  equinoctial  heat  more  discouraging  to  them  than  the 
accumulated  winter  of  both  the  Poles.  We  know  that  whilst  some 
of  them  draw  the  line,  and  strike  the  harpoon,  on  the  coast  of 
Africa,  others  run  the  longitude,  and  pursue  their  gigantic  game 
along  the  coast  of  Brazil.  No  sea  but  what  is  vexed  by  their  fish 
eries.  No  climate  that  is  not  witness  to  their  toils.  Neither  the 
perseverance  of  Holland,  nor  the  activity  of  France,  nor  the  dexter 
ous  and  firm  sagacity  of  English  enterprise,  ever  carried  this  most 
perilous  mode  of  hard  industry  to  the  extent  to  which  it  has  been 
pushed  by  this  recent  people;  a  people  who  are  still,  as  it  were,  but 
in  the  gristle,  and  not  yet  hardened  into  the  bone  of  manhood." 

Mr.  Reynolds  presented  to  Congress  a  list 
of  four  hundred  newly  discovered  islands,  run 
ning  through  a  series  of  consecutive  years,  and 
showed,  thereby,  that  a  thorough  examination 
of  these  seas  was  needed,  to  encourage  that  class 
of  our  citizens  who  were  absolutely  engaged  in 
the  most  dangerous  service  known  to  the  coun 
try,  as  well  as  for  the  preservation  of  our  com 
merce.  The  coast  of  California  had  been  only 
imperfectly  surveyed,  Mr.  Reynolds  stated,  at 
that  period  ;  Vancouver  had  only  partially  ex 
amined  it,  from  Ceros  Island,  north  ;  and  many 
islands,  bays,  harbors,  and  reefs,  on  that  portion 
of  the  Pacific  coast,  had  not  been  mapped.  That 
our  cruisers  had  extended  from  the  coasts  of 
Peru  and  Chili  to  the  northwest  coast  of  New 


EXPLORING   EXPEDITION.  69 

Zealand,  and  the  Isles  of  Japan  ;  and  several 
vessels  had  been  wrecked  on  islands,  and  reefs, 
not  laid  down  !  He  sustained  himself  by  records 
which  proved  that  there  were,  then,  at  least,  one 
hundred  and  seventy  thousand  tons  of  shipping, 
twelve  thousand  men,  and  twelve  millions  of 
capital  invested  in  the  whaling  and  fur  business, 
on  our  coasts,  which  derived  from  the  govern 
ment  no  more  aid,  as  American  interests,  than 
those  of  Patagonia  or  New  Zealand  would  have 
received ! 

This  immense  fleet  of  four  hundred  and  sixty 
sail,  from  forty  distinct  ports',  scattered  along  the 
seaboard  of  seven  different  States,  made  one 
tenth  of  all  the  tonnage  of  the  United  States ! 
And  the  fisheries,  alone,  even  at  that  time,  con 
tributed  over  six  millions,  annually,  to  the  wealth 
of  the  country. 

SECTION  v. 

And  now,  having  given  the  origin  of  the  First 
American  Exploring  Expedition,  we  shall  pro 
ceed  to  show  how  far  that  expedition  executed 
the  intention  of  Congress,  and  the  design  of  its 
distinguished  projector,  Hon.  J.  N.  Reynolds. 


70  FIRST    AMERICAN 

In  examining  into  the  detail  of  the  present  ex 
ecutive  action,  and  of  the  cabal  who  have  sought 
to  shear  from  the  navy  of  our  country  so  much 
of  its  glory,  the  author  found,  in  the  public  ar 
chives,  a  case  so  remarkably  illustrative  of  the 
same  mysterious  influence,  so  eminent  for  deep 
and  base  envy,  and  malignity  towards  elevated 
merit,  which  characterized  this  present  action, 
that  she  at  once  seized  upon  the  facts,  in  con 
nection  with  the  origin  and  history  of  the  First 
American  Exploring  Expedition  ;  and  will  show 
that,  as  incompetent  officials  who  occupied^  but 
did  not  Jill,  positions  of  authority,  under  the 
government,  defeated  the  magnitude  of  the  en 
terprise,  as  designed  by  its  author,  so  has  justice 
to  the  wronged  covered  with  denunciation  the 
men,  upon  whom  rests,  the  responsibility  of  hav 
ing  defeated  the  spirit  and  intent,  nay,  the  very 
letter  of  the  law,  which  authorized  the  late 
"  Navy  Retiring  Board !" 

A  year  after  the  law  of  Congress  ordering  the 
expedition,  its  departure  seemed  more  and  more 
doubtful  in  the  public  view.  The  people  could 
not  account  for  the  delay,  as  the  commissioners 
had  reported  to  the  President,  in  January,  1836, 
that  the  Macedonia  could  be  ready  for  sea  in 


EXPLORING   EXPEDITION.  71 

ninety  days.  It  was  now  1837!  Hon.  Mahlon 
Dickerson  was  known  to  have  opposed  the  en 
terprise  in  the  preceding  Congress,  and  urged 
members  "  to  strike  it  out."  But,  as  Secretary 
of  the  Navy,  his  obligations  ought  to  have  im 
posed  obedience  to  the  law's  behests.  While  this 
delay  continued,  the  French  government,  seeing 
the  future  glories  arising  from  this  expedition  to 
our  young  nation,  aroused  her  maritime  powers, 
and  actually  sent,  well-equipped,  three  expedi 
tions  to  the  South  Seas,  each  with  a  frigate,  and 
was  preparing  a  fourth  expedition,  before  the 
Secretary  of  the  Navy  had  done  any  thing  that 
looked  like  sincerity  in  the  matter ! 

No  one  would  have  believed  that  we  were  the 
descendants  of  that  energetic  people  who,  in 
1797,  when  the  French  Directory  insulted  them, 
felled  the  oak.  from  the  forest,  and  built  and 
manned  their  sloops  of  war,  and  were  pouring 
their  hot  shot  into  the  French  cruisers  in  the 
West  India  Islands,  within  one  hundred  days 
from  the  time  the  order  was  given  to  build  the 
vessels  !  President  Jackson,  it  was  well-known, 
was  fully  resolved  that  the  expedition  should  go 
out,  wanting  in  nothing  that  could  tend  to  pro 
mote  its  ultimate  object,  or  complete  its  triumph. 


72  FIRST   AMERICAN 

He  was  of  too  lofty  a  spirit  to  comprehend  the 
design  of  the  petty  action  of  this  contemptible 
cabal,  and,  even  in  sickness,  his  heart  was  full 
of  the  greatness  of  the  enterprise  !  In  the  mean 
while,  there  was  a  secret  action  designed,  at  last, 
to  strangle  it,  of  which  the  General's  philosophy 
had  not  dreamed.  In  order  to  derange  the  whole 
plan,  and  render  it  inadequate  to  meet  the  ex 
pectations  of  the  country,  of  the  President,  and 
of  Congress,  Mr.  Dickerson,  after  devising  other 
means  for  delay,  called  a  committee,  some  thir 
teen  months  after  the  law  passed,  to  assist  him 
in  adopting  means  requisite  for  the  exploration. 

Commodores  Chauncey,  Morris,  Warrington, 
Patterson  and  Wadsworth,  tried  and  trusty  men, 
were  assigned  that  unpleasant  duty.  For  what 
could  have  been  more  so,  than  to  be  summoned 
to  sit  in  judgment,  upon  the  deliberate  opinions 
of  the  people  of  the  United  States,  in  Congress 
assembled  ?  What  more  so,  than  to  review  the 
action  of  the  President  of  the  country,  who  had 
most  thoroughly  examined,  not  after  President 
Pierce's  fashion,  but  in  sincerity  and  honesty,  the 
character,  scope  and  design  of  the  expedition- 
But  President  Jackson  had  now  been  succeeded 
by  Martin  Van  Buren,  or  this  board  would  never 


EXPLORING    EXPEDITION.  73 

have  been  instituted.  The  high  hopes  and  expec 
tations  of  the  nation,  would  not  have  been  so 
slighted,  and  its  aspirations  for  an  enviable  fame, 
as  well  as  for  permanent  benefit  and  distinction, 
spurned  ! 

The  instructions  given  to  this  body,  were,  so 
far  as  a  perversion  of  the  law  was  concerned,  sim 
ilar  to  those  given  by  Mr.  Dobbin  to  his  Council 
of  "  Fifteen!"  The  major  object  of  the  expedi 
tion  was  singularly  omitted !  The  great  commer 
cial  interests  among  the  islands  of  the  Pacific,  and 
the  many  ways  by  which  science  might  be  ele 
vated,  and  the  interest  of  the  country  extended, 
were  all  passed  over,  without  scarcely  an  allu 
sion.  The  whole  purpose  and  plan  was  misrepre 
sented,  when  this  board  were  told  that  "The 
expedition  was  to  explore  the  Seas  of  the 
Northern  Hemisphere,  more  particularly  in  high 
latitudes,  and  in  regions  near  the  South  Pole  as 
could  be  approached  without  danger"  etc. 

SECTION  VI. 

Mr.  Dickerson,  then  Secretary  of  the  Navy,  is 
now  no  more.  And  we  shall  therefore  forbear  to 
make  any  other  comment  on  his  action  than 


74  FIRST   AMERICAN 

the  truth  of  history  imperiously  demands,  when 
justice  is  vindicated.  In  all  the  private  relations 
of  life,  that  gentleman  was  amiable  and  courteous, 
and  he  lived  and  died  above  reproach.  But  he, 
most  unfortunately,  was  surrounded  by  a  clique 
of  small  officers  and  vicious  men,  who  possessed 
neither  heads  nor  hearts  of  sufficient  capacity  to 
grasp  the  objects  contemplated  by  this  expedition. 
Men,  who  could  no  more  comprehend  the  value 
of  national  renown,  than  they  could  build  a  world  ! 
Men,  who  had  no  higher  ideas  of  the  navy,  than 
to  subserve  their  own  interests,  and  overlooked 
the  fact  that  it  was  made  to  give  glory  to  the 
republic,  and  not  to  aggrandize  themselves ! 

In  a  word,  Mr.  Dickerson  was  very  much  in 
the  same  category  after  the  law  of  1836,  that 
Mr.  Dobbin  was  after  that  of  1855  !  Both  sur 
rendered  to  weak  and  bad  influences,  and  both 
proved,  that  any  other  place,  than  that  of  Secre 
tary  of  the  Navy,  would  have  been  better  for 
themselves,  better  for  their  country !  When  men 
commit  felony  on  their  own  reputations,  public 
opinion  rises  above  party,  and  fixes  its  imperisha 
ble  seal  of  condemnation  where  it  belongs ! 
With  this  remark,  we  proceed  to  treat  the  con 
spirators  to  destroy  the  enterprise  as  the  real 


EXPLORING   EXPEDITION.  75 

perpetrators  of  the  act  designed  to  throw  back, 
with  contempt,  a  solemn  law  of  Congress  upon 
its  members,  and  upon  the  country ! 

We  say  the  instructions  given  the  board,  were 
a  willful  perversion  of  the  object  of  the  expedi 
tion.  They  knew  very  well  that  the  memorials 
which  came  to  Congress  from  that  portion  of  our 
fellow  citizens  who  had  most  interest  in  our  com 
merce,  elicited  from  the  members  the  greatest 
consideration. 

General  Ripley's  report  in  1828,  and  Hon. 
Dutee  J.  Pearce's  in  1835,  were  luminous  and 
unanswerable  arguments,  in  favor  of  protection 
to  our  fisheries  in  the  North  and  South  Pacific 
and  Indian  Oceans.  These  men  had  seen  Com 
modore  Downs'  letter,  too,  after  he  had  circumna 
vigated  the  globe  in  the  Potomac,  as  well  as  the 
original  report  of  Hon.  J.  N".  Reynolds  on  "the 
islands,  reefs,  and  shoals  of  the  Pacific,'7  in  which 
there  was  irresistible  evidence  of  the  labor  to  be 
performed  by  the  expedition,  among  the  thousand 
islands  laid  down,  through  error,  on  the  charts,  as 
well  as  among  those  that  had  no  place  assigned 
them  on  these  maps.  In  the  very  face  of  this 
knowledge,  upon  which  such  earnest  comment  had 
been  made  on  the  floor  of  Congress,  this  board 


76  FIRST   AMERICAN""' 

were  directed  to  look  mainly  to  the  means  of 
getting  to  the  South  Pole,  or  near  it,  and  to  see 
if  the  present  force  be  not  too  large,  for  that  sin 
gle  object !  We,  see  then,  the  mournful  spectacle 
before  us,  of  a  high,  but  weak  official,  attempt 
ing  to  cut  down  the  first  national  expedition 
undertaken  by  this  great  republic,  and  that,  too, 
in  the  very  face  of  a  solemn  law  of  the  land  !  If 
this  cabal  had  taken  the  trouble  to  have  searched 
among  the  archives  of  the  Navy  Department,  they 
would  have  seen  enough  to  convince  them  of  the 
effect  of  a  large  force,  in  accomplishing  the  pur 
poses  of  the  expedition  as  designed.  In  1824, 
the  British  Government  sent  Lord  Byron  in  the 
Frigate  Blonde,  to  the  Sandwich,  and  other 
islands.  What  was  the  effect  ?  Why,  these  sav 
ages  at  once  were  impressed  with  the  belief  that 
no  nation  on  earth  could  equal  the  greatness  of 
the  English !  And  the  result  upon  the  American 
residents  and  traders  in  that  quarter  was  so  un 
fortunate,  in  consequence,  that  they  wrote  to 
Commodore  Hull,  then  in  command  of  the  Pacific 
Squadron,  to  send  a  frigate  immediately  to 
remove  or  modify  the  effect  the  Blonde  had  pro 
duced.  Mr.  Southard,  then  Secretary,  sent  the 
Frigate  Potomac  to  Quallah-Battoo,  to  chastise 


EXPLORING   EXPEDITION. 


the  Malays,  whose  hands  had  been  stained  with 
the  blood  of  our  countrymen.  And  more  real 
and  lasting  benefit  ensued,  than  a  dozen  sloops  of 
war  could  have  accomplished. 


78  FIRST   AMERICAN 


CHAPTER    IV. 

WHEN  the  French  had  not  one-tenth  of  our 
interest  afloat  in  the  North  and  South  Pacific 
oceans,  they  sent  three  frigates  to  these  seas,  to 
extend  and  protect  their  trade,  and  subserve  the 
cause  of  science.  Mr.  Reynolds  had  taught  the 
tricksters,  but  they  forgot  the  lesson,  that  where 
our  commerce  was,  there  must  be  our  navy  to 
guard  its  interests !  And  every  speech  made  up 
on  the  subject  of  the  enterprise,  which  had  been 
scattered  over  the  nation,  was  a  withering  rebuke 
to  the  maladministration  of  the  Navy  Depart 
ment,  in  convoking  a  naval  board,  to  draw  from 
it  a  report,  to  justify  the  reduction  of  the  force 
the  law  authorized  for  the  expedition.  To  show 
the  miserable  subterfuges  of  this  cabal,  it  is  only 
necessary  to  state,  that,  at  one  time  they  declared 
the  idea  of  going  to  regions  near  the  South  Pole, 
was  sheer  nonsense  !  While  at  another,  they 
made  it  the  primary  object  of  the  enterprise,  in 
their  instructions  to  the  board ! 


EXPLORING   EXPEDITION. 

The  truth  about  the  matter  was,  that  Mr. 
Dickerson  was  opposed  so  thoroughly  to  the  ex 
pedition,  that  although  Congress  had  passed  a  law 
authorizing,  and  made  ample  provision  to  carry 
it  into  effect,  he  could  not,  as  the  servant  of  the 
government,  so  far  sink  his  own  individual  en 
mity,  as  to  implicitly  execute  the  act,  as  he  was 
bound  to  have  done,  and  therefore  allowed 
these  men  to  rule.  President  Jackson  overruled 
them,  as  soon  as  he  saw  the  delay,  and  the  Globe, 
on  the  13th  July,  1836,  announced  his  order  to 
have  the  Macedonia,  two  brigs  of  two  hundred 
tons  each,  one  or  more  tenders,  and  a  storeship, 
immediately  fitted  out ;  and,  that  Captain  Thomas 
Ap  C.  Jones,  had  been  appointed  to  the  com 
mand,  and  officers  for  the  other  vessels  were  about 
being  selected.  As  soon  as  this  official  notice 
appeared,  the  clique  sent  Mr.  Dickerson  to  the 
President,  to  correct  a  misunderstanding  in  his 
mind,  by  arguing,  that  ' '  protection  of  our  com 
merce,"  "  the  impression  of  our  force,"  "  our 
character,  policy,  and  power,"  could  not  belong 
to  an  expedition  intended  only  for  high  latitudes  ! 
The  next  excuse  made  for  the  delay,  was  the  im 
possibility  of  procuring  men. 

No  conspirators  ever  labored  so  zealously  to 


80  FIRST   AMERICAN 

defeat  an  enterprise  as  they  did  the  First  Ameri 
can  Exploring  Expedition !  They  held  up  the 
scientific  corps  as  an  encroachment  on  the  rights 
of  naval  officers,  and  went  so  far  as  to  say,  that 
these  officers  should  fix  their  salaries,  or,  at  least, 
protest  against  this  compensation  exceeding  a  cer 
tain  annual  sum!  Thus  was  jealousy  fomented 
between  officer  and  citizen !  There  is  no  title  of 
which  a  son  of  our  soil  may  feel  more  proud  than 
that  of  citizen.  And  who  but  they  make  our 
navy,  and  support  and  judge  its  officers  ? 

It  was  no  reproach  to  the  navy  that  the  varied 
scientific  knowledge  a  national  expedition  re 
quired,  called  for  men  in  an  entirely  different  line 
of  action  from  that  for  which  their  duties  unquali 
fied  them.  It  was  a  world  wide  fact  that,  while 
our  national  vessels  had  sailed  round  the  globe, 
no  record  of  a  laborious  scientific  research  existed  ! 
Instead  of  checking  a  disorganizing  spirit,  then, 
at  its  first  inception,  the  Secretary  actually  en 
couraged  it,  as  a  means  most  fatal  to  the  enter 
prise  !  He  designated  the  scientific  corps  as  mere 
oyster  or  clam  catchers  !  And  so  determined  was 
he  to  dispirit  and  annoy  these  men,  that,  although 
Congress  made  a  specific  appropriation  for  their 
compensation,  from  the  1st  of  January,  1837, 


EXPLORING   EXPEDITION.  81 

their  pay  was  withheld,  and  they  were  kept  from 
active  duty,  until  the  4th  of  July,  of  that  year ! 

It  was,  really,  a  most  humiliating  position,  un 
der  which  we  were  thus  placed  hefore  the  en 
lightened  nations  of  the  world.  That  our  coun 
try  which,  in  the  American  Revolution,  captured 
by  her  private  armed  ships,  fifteen  hundred  sail 
from  the  enemy,  broke  the  charm  of  British  in 
vincibility  by  sea,  and  humbled  the  spirited  cor 
sairs  of  the  Mediterranean,  should  now,  after 
marching  into  the  front  rank  of  nations,  be 
thrown  into  derangement  and  excitement  about 
manning  a  small  squadron  with  a  few  hundred 
seamen !  But  such  was  actually  the  case  !  And, 
although  the  memorialists,  committees,  members 
of  Congress,  and  the  press,  urged  that  a  frigate 
and  other  vessels  be  at  once  fitted  out  for  the 
expedition,  it  was,  positively,  fourteen  months 
after  the  passage  of  the  law,  when  the  public 
were  informed  that  "  the  only  insurmountable 
difficulty"  was  finding  the  requisite  men,  "in 
three  or  four  months,  without  interfering  with 
arrangements  already  made !"  Thus,  did  the 
cabal  expedite  that  voyage  of  discovery !  Con 
gress  went  so  far  as  to  make  a  special  grant  for 
the  increase  of  the  seamen's  wages,  at  the  pre- 


82  FIEST    AMERICAN 

V 

vious  session,  but  every  dollar  of  it  was  withheld 
from  the  poor  sailors  who  were  shipped  for  the 
expedition. 

SECTION    I. 

Commodore  Jones,  too,  was  offered  the  "  ex 
traordinary  facility"  of  detailing  officers  to  visit 
New  Bedford,  New  London,  etc.,  for  the  purpose 
of  procuring  crews,  but  that  inducement  which  is 
well  known  to  be  essential  to  cause  men  to  ship, 
either  in  the  merchant  or  naval  service,  was 
withheld,  as  no  money  for  advances  was  allowed 
to  these  officers !  And  it  was  an  undeniable  fact 
that,  after  prime  hands  had  consented,  in  New 
Bedford  and  other  districts,  and  the  commander 
of  the  squadron  approved  the  requisition  of  an 
officer  for  one  thousand  dollars  to  pay  the  passage 
of  these  men  to  the  naval  rendezvous,  the  Secre 
tary  refused  to  cash  the  draft !  On  another  occa 
sion,  fourteen  sailors  reported  themselves  ready 
for  enlistment,  at  the  office  of  an  agent,  in  Alex 
andria,  D.  C.  The  agreement  was  about  being 
consummated,  when  the  officer  repaired  to  Wash 
ington,  to  ascertain  whether  the  thirty  dollars, 
the  usual  advance,  should  be  charged  to  the  men, 


EXPLORING   EXPEDITION.  83 

or  whether,  in  compliance  with  the  special  provi 
sion  of  Congress,  that  sum  should  be  allowed  as 
bounty.  Before  he  had  time  even  to  make  the 
inquiry,  he  was  ordered  to  return  the  money 
placed  in  his  hands  forthwith  to  the  treasury,  and 
tell  the  seamen  to  "go  to  Norfolk  upon  their 
own  hook !  and  ship  there."  Of  course,  not  one 
was  so  insane  as  to  obey ! 

Such  were  the  "  extraordinary  efforts,"  and 
such  the  "extraordinary  success,"  in  procuring 
men  for  the  First  Exploring  Expedition  of  our 
country !  The  belief  that  the  feeling  of  the  De 
partment  was  enlisted  against  the  measure,  now 
became  general  throughout  the  nation.  The  fact 
that  the  uncertainty  about  the  sailing  of  the  ex 
pedition  had  so  long  prevailed,  and  the  non-al 
lowance  of  the  extra  pay  Congress  had  provided 
for  the  crew,  soon  had  a  chilling  effect  upon  its 
ardent  advocates.  It  was,  evidently,  the  design 
of  the  Department  to  create  the  idea  that  great 
privation  would  follow  this  service,  and  all  the 
wages  of  the  crew  would  be  expended  in  provi 
ding  clothing  for  the  icy  latitudes  near  the  South 
Pole !  And  the  public  mind  was  not  long  in 
comprehending  the  "  facilities  "  which  this  great 
national  enterprise  received  from  the  Navy  De- 


84.  FIRST    AMERICAN 

partment.  With  ordinary  effort,  the  whole  com 
plement  of  every  vessel  might  have  been  shipped 
in  sixty  or  ninety  days  after  the  passage  of  the 
law,  and  that,  too,  without  interfering  with  the 
protection  of  our  commerce,  or  with  the  regular 
action  of  the  naval  service.  The  men,  as  we 
have  shown,  stood  ready  to  enlist  for  the  cruise  ; 
men,  who  would  have  honored  the  expedition ! 
The  public  records,  also,  show  that  when  the 
Department  reported  to  the  President,  and, 
through  him,  to  Congress,  that  "  the  frigate  and 
storeship,  which  were  on  the  stocks  when  this  meas 
ure  was  authorized,  have  been  finished  and  equipped, 
and  are  now  receiving  their  crews  ;"  that  the  ships 
were  not  finished,  were  not  equipped,  were  not  re 
ceiving  their  crews!  So  far  from  it,  it  was  not 
until  the  next  June,  six  months  after  this  official 
statement,  that  the  frigate  was  completed,  and  in  a 
condition  to  receive  her  complement  of  men  !  When 
that  report  was  made  of  the  frigate's  readiness 
for  the  expedition,  she  had  not  a  single  bulkhead 
up,  or  a  yarn  over  the  masthead ! 

We  find,  in  this  most  incongruous  report,  that, 
after  the  foregoing  statement,  the  President  was 
informed  that  the  Department  had  not  "yet  at 
tempted  to  organize  the  scientific  corps,"  but 


EXPLORING   EXPEDITION.  85 

would  as  soon  as  "  the  accommodations  were  ready 
for  them  in  the  vessels."  The  reader  can  make 
his  own  comments  upon  this  singular  consistency  ! 
Now,  every  man  and  woman  of  common  sense 
would  know  that  the  organization  of  a  corps  of 
men  for  scientific  purposes  had  nothing  to  do  with 
their  apartments  on  shipboard !  No,  no  ;  that  was 
all  the  merest  skulking  of  the  cabal.  But,  one 
day,  in  December,  a  distinguished  member  of 
Congress  remarked  to  the  President,  that  "no 
appointments  for  the  expedition  had  been  yet 
made  for  the  civil  department."  General  Jack 
son,  surprised,  rang  his  bell,  and  summoned  the 
Secretary  to  attend  at  12  o'clock !  In  three  days 
from  that  time,  the  scientific  corps  were  commis 
sioned  !  And,  to  him,  the  sole  credit  is  due  for 
the  able,  efficient,  and  scientific  board,  which 
were  attached  to  that  exploration. 

SECTION  n. 

Some  may  inquire,  what  reason  was  assigned 
to  the  President  for  not  having  made  these  ap 
pointments  before?  Why,  that  Mr.  Secretary 
was  waiting  for  a  new  appropriation  by  Congress ! 
But  the  General  very  soon  dismissed  that  excuse, 


86  FIRST   AMERICAN 

by  showing,  from  incontestable  documentary  evi 
dence,  that  more  than  one  hundred  thousand  dollars 
of  the  last  year's  appropriation,  were  at  that  very 
time  unexpended. 

When  the  bill  was  pending  before  Congress  for 
this  national  expedition,  these  mutineers  sought 
constantly  to  create  opposition,  by  representing 
the  immense  draw  it  would  make  on  the  treasury. 
Mr.  Dickersoii  then  declared  to  members,  that  it 
was  an  extravagant  enterprise,  which  had  noth 
ing  to  do  with  the  protection  of  our  commerce,  and 
was  only  to  explore  high  latitudes  South  !  !  !  The 
object  of  this  was  apparent !  It  is  known,  that  a 
portion  of  our  public  men  entertain  the  opinion 
that  the  government  of  the  United  States  has  no 
authority  under  the  constitution,  to  send  out  an 
expedition  solely  to  promote  science.  Therefore, 
to  have  divested  it  of  its  relations  to  commercial 
protection  and  general  utility  to  the  country, 
would  have  been  to  destroy  it !  But,  the  clear 
sighted  Reynolds  had  made  the  measure  impreg 
nable,  by  the  very  defenses  from  which  its  enemies 
would  gladly  have  separated  it.  Science  was  not 
the  primary  object  of  the  expedition ! 

It  was  the  cherished  idea  of  Mr.  Reynolds,  in 
maturing  this  great  American  expedition,  to  have 


EXPLORING   EXPEDITION. 

it,  in  all  respects,  a  national,  American  matter. 
It  was  due  to  the  country,  and  the  just  pride  of  her 
free-born  sons  !  And  American  artists  deserved 
to  have  their  skill  at  least  fairly  tried,  before  any 
step  was  taken  to  provide  the  instruments  abroad. 
But  the  conspirators  did  not  think  so.  And  in 
stead  of  first  appointing  the  corps  for  whose  use 
they  were  intended,  and  obtaining  the  views  of 
these  scientific  men  as  to  the  instruments  needed, 
as  well  as  the  mode  of  providing  them,  he  sends 
an  agent,  Lieutenant  Wilkes,  off  to  Europe,  to 
procure  books  and  instruments  for  many  branches 
of  science,  of  which  he  knew  no  more  than  the 
Secretary  himself!  And  reader,  what  instru 
ments  do  you  suppose  were  thus  obtained,  that 
could  not  be  had  in  these  United  States  ?  The 
records  tell  us  they  consisted  of  two  astronomical 
clocks,  one  journeyman's  clock,  two  astronomical 
telescopes,  and  forty-one  chronometers !  Now, 
we  find  upon  examination,  that  for  several  years 
previous  to  that  period,  astronomical  clocks  had 
been  made  by  American  workmen,  not  surpassed 
in  accuracy  and  finish  by  those  of  any  foreign 
workshop  in  the  world !  And  Halcomb,  the 
American  constructor  of  telescopes,  had  won 
paeans  of  praise  for  the  accuracy  and  portability 


88  FIRST    AMERICAN 

of  his  instruments  ;  while  our  American  box- 
chronometers  had  received  premium  after  pre 
mium  from  men  who  kept  up  with  the  time  of  day! 
Thus,  among  the  heterogeneous  melange  of  scien 
tific  works  provided  by  this  agent  of  the  Secre 
tary,  not  over  ten,  with  the  exception  of  the 
voyages,  were  worth  any  more  to  the  object  than 
the  Arabian  Nights  !  There  had  evidently  been 
no  naturalist  consulted  ;  for  not  a  manual,  model, 
or  workbook  was  in  the  lot !  And  such  instru 
ments  as  were  really  necessary  to  have  been  pro 
cured  in  Europe,  were  never  mentioned !  So  it 
was,  that  after  fifteen  months  had  passed  away, 
proper  books  were  to  be  provided,  and  instruments 
were  still  to  be  constructed.  All  for  the  good  faith 
of  the  government's  official ! 

One  thing  ought  not  to  be  forgotten,  that,  after 
the  studied  attempt  to  excite  enmity  between  the 
civilians  and  naval  officers  of  the  expedition,  the 
Secretary  was  for  taking  the  hydrographical 
and  astronomical  labors  from  them,  to  whose  pro 
fession  they  belonged,  and  making  these  improper 
assignments  to  unprofessional  men.  But  as  yet, 
the  integuments  of  these  men's  consciences  had 
not  been  penetrated !  The  voice  of  public  cen 
sure  had  reached  them  in  vain ! 


EXPLORING   EXPEDITION.  89 

The  object  of  appointing  the  naval  board,  at 
this  crisis,  was  clearly  to  defeat  the  law  of  Con 
gress,  by  reducing  the  force  of  the  expedition. 
For  this  reason,  Commodore  Jones  had  no  place 
in  it!  He  was  known  to  have  been  too  fully 
committed  to  its  interests  to  see  the  nation  sent 
back  fifty  years  in  intelligence  by  any  act  on  his 
part !  But,  fortunately,  the  board  bore  no  sem 
blance  to  that  subsequently  selected  by  Mr.  Dob 
bin  !  They  were  men  who  would  not  so  far 
compromise  themselves  as  to  overlook  the  claims 
of  patriotism  and  duty  !  And,  looking  to  the  law 
of  Congress  and  the  memorialists,  they  decided 
to  advise  no  other  course  than  that  pointed  out 
by  the  proper  authority  ! 

SECTION  in. 

In  the  meanwhile,  the  Department,  expecting 
to  be  sustained  by  the  board  it  created  for  the 
purpose,  allowed  Wilkes  to  take  the  instruments 
intended  for  the  expedition,  on  board  the  Por 
poise,  in  order  to  cause  a  new  difficulty  to  its 
sailing!  No  men  ever  labored  more  zealously 
to  defeat  an  object,  than  did  that  clique  to  de 
stroy  the  expedition!  They  represented  the 


90  FIRST   AMERICAN 

duties  of  the  civil  corps  as  being  degrading  and 
irksome !  although,  at  the  same  period,  the 
French  expeditions,  incited  by  our  own,  had 
volunteers  from  the  best  citizens  of  the  country, 
even  to  stand  before  the  masts ! 

In  the  expeditions  of  Napoleon  into  Egypt,  he 
wisely  foresaw  the  advantage  of  a  corps  of  sa- 
vans,  to  the  ising  greatness  of  his  country  ;  and 
he  knows  little  of  history  who  has  not  seen  that, 
while  they  took  nothing  from  the  glory  of  the 
military  commanders,  they  made  imperishable 
the  benefits  of  their  own  scientific  discoveries. 
This  was  the  enterprise  in  which  we  were  to 
make  our  debut  in  the  field  of  maritime  enter 
prise  and  discovery,  and  the  projector  had  labored 
long  and  earnestly  to  make  it  national  in  all  re 
spects.  By  it,  the  commercial  interests  of  our 
country  were  to  be  protected — new  regions  ex 
plored — unfortunate  seamen  succored — charts  of 
harbors  made — dangerous  passages  surveyed — 
important  islands  penetrated — their  population 
to  be  sought  for  conference — the  lives  of  our 
mariners  made  more  secure,  and  our  trade  in 
creased  ! 

More  than  one  hundred  mariners,  American 
seamen,  had  been  shipwrecked  at  the  Feejee  Is- 


EXPLORING   EXPEDITION.  91 

lands,  alone,  and  most  of  them  cruelly  murdered 
by  the  natives,  while  not  a  single  effort  had  been 
made  to  awe  those  savages  by  our  power,  or 
conciliate  them  by  our  kindness.  The  effect  of  a 
national  frigate  at  such  a  spot  was  apparent  to 
the  common  sense  of  all.  The  mere  exhibition  of 
such  a  force  as  Congress  designed,  and  Commo 
dore  Jones  recommended,  might  have  tended  to 
the  immediate  rescue  of  our  captive  mariners. 

Often  a  dozen  vessels,  from  a  single  port  in  the 
United  States,  were  engaged  in  traffic  with  these 
Feejee  Islanders  for  the  Chinese  market.  What 
was  the  result?  These  vessels  returned  to  the 
United  States,  freighted  with  the  rich  goods  of 
that  country,  the  duties  upon  which  had  yearly 
added  largely  to  the  national  treasure.  It  was  a 
matter  of  ridicule  to  all  geographers,  when  they 
found  the  instructions  for  the  guidance  of  the 
expedition  from  the  Navy  Department  named 
but  three  places  on  the  whole  globe,  and  they  as 
well-known  as  the  ports  of  New  York  or  Ports 
mouth  !  The  points  for  general  rendezvous  were 
luminously  pointed  out  by  the  only  individual 
competent  to  the  undertaking,  Mr.  Reynolds,  the 
originator  and  founder  of  the  enterprise. 

This  energetic  American  showed  that  one  of 


92  FIRST   AMERICAN 

the  most  populous  group  of  islands  in  the  Pacific, 
in  the  neighborhood  of  the  Feejee  and  Society  Is 
lands,  rich  in  all  the  productions  of  the  tropics, 
and  lying  in  the  very  track  of  our  great  whaling 
operations,  was,  at  that  time,  for  all  minute  and 
practical  knowledge,  an  unknown  land  !  When  the 
intelligence  of  the  country  was  awakened  to  the 
extent  and  variety  of  trade,  and  the  consequent 
amount  of  revenue  collected  from  these  regions, 
it  soon  saw  that  it  owed  fifty  times  the  amount 
that  the  expedition  would  cost,  for  the  revenue 
that  had  already  accrued,  without  any  expense 
for  protection.  And,  even  if  that  had  not  been 
so,  it  was  due  to  the  unaided  enterprise  of  her 
citizens,  and  the  future  interests  which  it  would 
so  well  subserve. 

SECTION    IV. 

The  condition  of  the  finances  of  our  country  in 
1837,  encouraged  this  cabal  in  the  hope  that  it 
might  now  break  up  the  entire  expedition  ;  and 
a  new  commission  was  instituted,  to  renew  the 
effort  to  cut  down  its  force. 

Commodores  Hull,  Biddle,  and  Aulick  com 
posed  its  members,  and  without  visiting  the 


EXPLORING   EXPEDITION.  93 

squadron,  or  informing  themselves  of  the  real 
objects  of  the  enterprise,  they  reported  favorably 
for  the  conspirators,  and  recommended  the  sloop- 
of-war  Peacock,  instead  of  the  Macedonia,  and  a 
reduction  of  the  minor  vessels.  The  purpose  to 
reduce  the  naval  force  of  the  expedition,  soon 
excited  the  surprise  of  scientific  observers  in 
Europe,  as  well  as  this  country.  For  even  when 
France  and  England  were  taxed  to  their  utmost 
capacity,  by  a  long  and  expensive  war,  they  both 
sent  out  splendid  expeditions  of  discovery.  But, 
we  Americans  were  not  born  to  be  servile  imita 
tors  of  foreign  powers !  We,  as  a  people,  were 
the  last  to  enter  the  Pacific  Ocean,  but  we  had 
moved  with  matchless  celerity,  and  pushed  ahead 
of  every  other  nation  in  maritime  and  commer 
cial  enterprise  on  the  globe  !  At  home,  we  had 
turned  the  forest  into  the  abode  of  civilization, 
and  framed  our  institutions  to  meet  the  wants  of 
our  own  people.  And  in  steam  navigation,  ship 
building,  and  the  use  of  mechanical  agents,  we 
then  challenged  the  whole  world  to  equal  us ! 

By  the  most  irrefragable  arguments,  Mr.  Rey 
nolds  showed  that  there  was  no  expedition  of  a 
like  character  ever  sent  from  Europe,  whose  ex 
ample  should  warrant  the  reduction  of  the  Ameri- 


94  FIRST    AMERICAN 

can  flotilla.  Commodore  Jones,  enfeebled  in 
health,  and  discouraged  by  the  endless  impedi 
ments  and  malignant  action  which  thwarted  his 
noble  exertions,  resigned  his  command  on  No 
vember  30th,  1838.  It  was  then  tendered  to 
Shubrick,  President  of  the  late  Council  of  "  Fif 
teen."  The  vessels  did  not  please  him,  and  he 
declined.  It  was  next  offered  to  Captain  Kear 
ney. 

In  the  meanwhile,  the  misapplication  of  the 
funds,  the  changing  of  vessels,  the  effort  to  create 
discord,  the  delay  of  the  reports,  the  withholding  the 
specific  information  which  was  asked  by  Coiigress, 
the  indecision  and  inconsistency,  avoiding  the  friends, 
especially,  the  PROJECTOR  of  the  expedition,  and 
rewarding  those  who  created  difficulties  in  the 
way  of  its  progress,  compelled  the  Executive  to 
interfere,  and  take  its  final  arrangement  from  the 
hands  of  the  Secretary  of  the  Navy !  It  was 
then  transferred  to  Hon.  Joel  R.  Poinsett,  Secre 
tary  of  War.  The  friends  of  the  measure  were 
now  jubilant  with  joy,  as  the  era  of  a  new  policy 
in  the  matter  was  believed  to  have  been  thus  inau 
gurated  !  But  alas,  what  a  fatal  mistake  ! 

For  soon  it  appeared  that  Poinsett  had  all  along 
been  the  secret  coadjutor  of  the  Navy  Junta,  and 


EXPLORING   EXPEDITION.  95 

whatever  had  been  done  by  them,  was  with  the 
full  approval  of  that  wonderful  man,  Poinsett ! 
It  then  appeared,  that  he  devised  or  abetted  the 
scheme  of  appointing  captains,  all  known  enemies 
to  the  expedition,  to  withdraw  the  Macedonia 
from  the  squadron,  that  she  might  be  sent  imme 
diately  as  the  flag-ship  to  the  West  Indies,  under 
command  of  his  particular  friend  !  We  have  said 
that  Captain  Kearney  was  invited  to  the  com 
mand,  but  Poinsett  interposed,  and  had  that 
order  withdrawn.  Not  only  so,  but  similar  con 
duct  towards  that  officer  in  regard  to  other  ves 
sels,  both  by  Poinsett  and  Dickerson,  obliged 
Kearney  reluctantly  to  retire  from  the  expedition, 
in  which  he  entered  with  so  much  zeal  and  pro 
fessional  ability. 

Captain  Gregory  was  then  tendered  the  com 
mand  :  he  stood  at  the  head  of  master-command 
ers  and,  independent  of  the  expedition,  was  enti 
tled  to  the  promotion  to  a  post-captaincy.  Now, 
instead  of  extending  to  this  officer  the  deference 
due  to  his  position,  they  refused  to  send  his  name 
to  the  Senate  for  his  just  promotion  until  after 
he  should  accept  the  command  of  the  expedition. 
This  the  Captain  refused,  very  properly,  to  do, 
although  he  was  both  promoted,  and  appointed 


96  FIRST    AMERICAN 

to  the  command  !  But  this  manoeuvre  was  for 
the  settled  purpose  of  defeating  him,  and  so  it 
proved.  Poinsett  and  his  coadjutors  had,  long 
before,  made  him  a  marked  man !  Why  ?  be 
cause  Gregory  had  not  consented  to  take  the 
responsibility  of  objecting  to  Mr.  J.  N.  Reynolds 
and  others,  whom  this  lilliputian  coterie,  Poin 
sett  &  Co.,  had  determined  to  sever  from  the 
expedition,  but  lacked  the  courage  to  avow  their 
base  design !  Hence  it  was,  that  the  rules  of 
the  service,  and  the  rights  of  high-toned  officers, 
were  trampled  down. 

SECTION   V. 

'\     '''    -'l:'       "      :i<""r7     -''<S  "if :",''''-:    0<r      -•,"•>-..-     rn  ' 

Captain  Kearney  had  agreed  to  take  the  squad 
ron  substantially  as  Commodore  Jones  left  it. 
He  refused  to  object  to  the  scientific  corps,  and 
asked  no  change  but  the  appointment  of  Lieuten 
ant  Gedney,  as  second  in  command  ;  and,  to  it, 
Mr.  Dickerson  had  consented,  and  ratified  it. 
While  Kearney,  with  his  known  promptness,  had 
directed  Lieutenant  Gedney  to  prepare  letters  for 
Lieutenants  Dorwin  and  Glynn,  requesting  them, 
in  five  days  after  their  receipt,  to  proceed  to  Rio, 
and  wait  the  arrival  of  Captain  Kearney  himself. 


EXPLORING  EXPEDITION.  97 

in  the  flag-ship  !  Next  morning,  Captain  Kear 
ney  and  Lieut  Q-edney  called  at  the  Navy  Depart 
ment,  to  dispatch  orders,  and  put  the  squadron 
in  motion.  When  lo !  the  Macedonia  was  with 
drawn,  and  the  whole  arrangement  made  by  the 
Department  the  previous  day,  declared  a  nullity ! 
They,  then,  proposed  to  substitute  a  large 
merchant  vessel  for  the  scientific  corps,  as  the 
flag  ship,  and  offered  that  command  to  the  Cap 
tain,  who,  being  determined  not  to  be  driven 
from  the  expedition,  accepted  ;  but,  finally,  dis 
gusted  and  disheartened,  as  we  have  stated,  he 
withdrew.  It  was  ascertained,  beyond  all  ques 
tion,  that  Joel  R.  Poinsett  perpetrated  all  that 
mischief  in  twenty-four  hours !  After  Gregory, 
Captain  Joseph  Smith,  a  gallant  and  distinguished 
officer,  received  as  insincere  a  proffer  of  the  com 
mand  as  that  made  to  his  brother  officers,  by 
whom  he  had  been  preceded  in  that  honor! 
Captain  Smith  asked  for  Lieutenant  Wilkes 
among  the  junior  officers,  to  command  one  of 
the  small  vessels!  a  station,  altogether,  as  high 
as  his  rank,  standing,  and  qualifications,  fitted 
him.  And,  for  this  situation  (the  command  of  a 
small  vessel  in  the  squadron),  he  had  been  named 
by  the  Secretary  of  the  K"avy  to  Commodore 


98  FIRST   AMERICAN 

I"  .     '          '.?J".    J     T)  <TTJFO<Jr 

Jones.  So,  to  reconcile  matters,  Captain  Smith 
thought  fit  to  name  Wilkes,  once  more,  for  as 
high  a  position  as  his  ardent  admirers  had  then 
presumed  to  claim  for  him !  Imagine,  there 
fore,  with  what  startling  effect  came  the  abso 
lute  refusal  of  Wilkes  to  take  a  subordinate 
position  in  that  expedition !  He  declared  he 
would  resign  his  commission  in  the  navy  sooner 
than  do  so  ;  and  that  he  would  take  nothing  short 
of  the  entire  command  ! 

And,  would  you  believe  it,  Americans,  that 
but  two  days  elapsed  after  this  most  insubordi 
nate  and  disobedient  action,  on  the  part  of 
Wilkes,  before  he  was  appointed  to  the  entire 
command ! 

Nobody  expects  one  of  that  cabal  to  turn 
state's  evidence,  and  convict  the  culprits ;  but 
no  one  doubts  the  less,  that  Lieutenant  Wilkes 
declined  the  station  offered  him  by  Captain 
Smith  under  the  express  authority  of  Joel  R. 
Poinsett !  Who  believes,  in  or  out  of  the  ser 
vice,  that  Wilkes  would  have  dared  to  have  com 
mitted  an  act  that  would  have  jeopardized  his 
commission  under  different  circumstances.  Not 
one !  not  one !  Hear  these  men !  They  told 
the  public  that  Captain  Smith  would  not  go  with- 


EXPLORING   EXPEDITION.  99 

•  * 

out  Wilkes !  and  that  Commodore  Jones  would 

_ 

not  go  with  him  ?  There  stood  Captains  Kear 
ney,  Smith,  Gregory,  Kennon,  Aulick,  and  Arm 
strong,  with  a  Lieutenant  Commodore  made 
over  their  heads !  A  Lieutenant,  whom  Gedney 
had  taught  the  first  rudiments  of  hydrography ! 
Lieutenant  Magruder  had,  also,  been  attached 
as  first  lieutenant  of  the  Macedonia ;  and  he, 
very  properly,  sent  a  remonstrance  to  the  De 
partment,  against  the  injustice  of  superseding 
him  ;  and  it  lies  there  yet  among  its  archives. 
What  did  he  say  ?  Why,  that  he  was  of  the 
same  date  as  Wilkes,  was  examined  by  the  same 
board,  that  he  passed  higher  than  Wilkes  in 
mathematics  and  seamanship,  ranked,  conse 
quently,  above  him,  and  had  seen  much  more 
sea  service  since  they  had  been  commissioned 
lieutenants !  Yet,  there  he  was,  supplanted  by 
his  inferior ! 

Reader,  mark  the  parallel  between  the  action 
of  that  cabal  to  break  down  the  Navy  in  1838, 
and  that  in  1855.  In  many  cases,  they,  the  par 
ties,  are  identical,  and  in  all  cases,  influenced  by 
the  same  animus  furandi !  Look  at  Shubrick's 
action  at  that  day,  the  same  spirit  of  insubordi 
nation,  which  since  has  distinguisjied^hinv  Yet 


100  FIRST   AMERICAN 

he  found  favor  with,  that  same  cabal,  and  recently 
sat  in  judgment  upon  his  brothers  in  the  service  ! 
Look  at  Wilkes,  elevated  there  by  the  same  influ 
ence  that  retains  him  now,  while  Lieutenant, 
now  Captain  Gedney,  the  accomplished  hydro- 
grapher,  is  laid  on  the  shelf.  But  as  though  it 
was  not  enough  to  elevate  Wilkes  over  his  supe 
riors,  it  was  alleged  that  none  of  them  had  the  re 
quisite  talents!  What  rendered  this  the  more 
insulting,  was  the  fact,  that  Lieutenant  Wilkes 
had  never  been  recognized  by  the  corps  of  scien 
tific  officers,  as  even  being  one  of  their  number ! 
He  had  aided  Gedney  and  Blake  in  a  survey  of 
Narragansett  Bay,  some  years  before,  and  we 
believe  had  surveyed,  subsequently,  George's 
Bank  !  But  he  never  had  been  ranked  as  a  hy- 
drographer  with  Lieutenants  Gedney  and  Blake. 

SECTION  VI. 

Captain  James  Armstrong,  whose  services  were 
passed  over,  to  give  the  command  to  a  junior 
lieutenant,  was  another  case,  which  called  for  pub 
lic  reprehension,  similar  to  the  instances  in  which 
distinguished  seniors  were  set  aside  by  the  late 
Navy  Retiring  Board,  to  make  places  for  aspiring 


EXPLORING   EXPEDITION.  101 

juniors.  Captain  Armstrong  was  ordered  to  the 
command  of  the  Macedonia  in  1836  ;  from  then 
to  1839,  he  had  been  constantly  with  his  vessel, 
amid  delays  and  discouragements  no  language 
can  describe.  The  records  of  the  Department 
showed,  that  for  thirty  years  he  had  borne  him 
self  with  honor  in  the  service.  He  was  at  New 
Orleans,  on  board  the  bomb-ketch  Etna,  and 
afterwards  commanded  a  gun-boat,  though  a 
young  midshipman  ;  and  engaged  in  the  fight 
which  subdued  the  Barrataria  pirates.  He  was 
in  the  brig  Siren,  in  the  sloop-of-war  Fralies,  in 
the  frigate  Congress,  in  the  Washington,  the  In 
dependence,  the  Columbus,  the  United  States, 
commanded  the  Porpoise,  and  then  was  appointed 
to  the  command  of  the  Macedonia,  when  she  was 
designated  for  the  expedition. 

This  captain,  who  had  served  his  country  with 
so  much  honor  under  Commodores  Chauncey, 
Bainbridge,  and  Hull,  and  who  had  been  for  two 
years  attached  to  the  expedition,  was,  without  even 
the  courtesy  of  explanation,  ruthlessly  thrust 
aside  by  these  naval  bandits,  to  make  room  for 
an  instrument  who  would  enact  their  behests ! 

An  officer  like  Captain  Armstrong  would  have 
given  prestige  to  the  enterprise  at  home  and 


102  FIRST   AMERICAN 

abroad.  He  was  able,  skillful,  prudent,  with  the 
capacity  to  manage  the  fleet,  and  take  care  of  the 
crew  committed  to  his  charge,  and  was,  in  all 
respects,  fitted  to  conduct  the  South  Sea  explora 
tion.  He  was  without  the  weakness  or  folly  of 
Wilkes,  and  sought  no  acknowledgment  for  sci 
entific  attainments  which  he  did  not  possess. 
But,  like  Commodores  Jones,  Kearney,  Smith, 
and  Gregory,  he  scorned  the  servility  essential  to 
propitiate  the  favor  of  these  designing  men ! 

It  now  became  necessary  to  put  forth  some 
plea  of  justification  for  the  outrage  upon  the  usage 
of  the  service,  and  the  injustice  perpetrated  on 
the  public  good,  in  the  appointment  of  Lieuten 
ant  Wilkes  to  the  command  of  the  expedition ! 

"How  can  it  be  done?"  became  then  a  para 
mount  question  with  the  cabal !  But,  having 
!  accomplished  their  ends  so  far  as  to  secure  their 
instrument,  there  was  not  much  apprehension  but 
that,  amidst  so  much  versatility  of  talent  and  in 
ventive  genius,  some  plea  might  be  made,  which 
would  justify  the  outrage  !  So  the  "  Naval  Gen 
eral  Orders,"  of  the  22d  of  June,  1838,  ap 
peared  in  the  form  of  a  proclamation,  declaring 
the  expedition  purely  scientific,  thereby  leaving 
the  President  power  to  depart  from  the  usual  cus- 


EXPLORING  EXPEDITION. 


103 


torn  of  appointing  from  the  senior  ranks  of  the 
navy,  and  according  to  their  respective  grades! 

Lieutenant  Charles  Wilkes  was  then  announced 
as  having  received  the  appointment  as  first  officer 
of  the  expedition,  and  Lieutenant  William  L. 
Hudson,  as  second  officer,  to  command  the  sloop- 
of-war  Peacock  !  Hudson,  at  that  moment,  stood 
above  Wilkes  on  the  Navy  Register,  yet  the 
junior  was  put  in  the  whole  command !  Now,  be 
it  remembered,  that  Mr.  Poinsett  had,  just  before, 
deemed  it  essential  to  have  Captain  Gregory  pro 
moted  to  the  rank  of  post-captain,  before  he  con 
sidered  him  elegible  to  the  command !  And  yet, 
Gregory  was  at  that  time  at  the  very  head  of  the 
list  of  master-commanders  in  the  service !  It 
was  also  equally  well  known,  that  Captain  Au- 
lick  had  been  invited  to  take  the  second  position 
in  the  squadron  ;  and  that  Lieutenant  Tatnall  had 
been  offered,  unofficially,  the  grade  of  comman 
der,  which  he  had  in  the  same  way  accepted,  only 
a  few  days  before  Wilkes'  appointment ;  and 
when,  as  we  have  reason  to  believe,  they  were 
actually  in  treaty  with  Wilkes,  as  the  only  proper 
man  for  their  purposes !  We  leave  to  some 
future  Plutarch,  the  task  of  unveiling  all  the  in 
consistency  the  case  could  unfold !  But  the  for- 


104  FIRST  AMERICAN 

bearance  of  Congress  and  the  people  seemed 
the  more  surprising,  since  this  clique  dared  to 
assume,  that  in  appointing  a  lieutenant  to  com 
mand  the  expedition,  they  had  actually  changed 
the  character  of  the  enterprise  I 


- 


EXPLORING   EXPEDITION.  105 


CHAPTER    Y. 

IN  the  celebrated  report,  in  answer  to  a  call 
of  Congress,  of  March  19th,  1837,  in  reference 
to  the  two  sloops  of  war,  Pioneer  and  Consort, 
intended  for  the  exploration,  the  same  disregard 
to  that  supreme  legislature  was  manifested  ;  when 
the  important  official  documents  were  withheld 
from  Congress,  and  trivial  unimportant  papers 
were  sent  in  their  places.  Why  ?  Because  the 
documents  proved  the  fitness  of  the  vessels  for 
the  service  which  Poinsett  &  Co.  had  concealed. 
The  Macedonian  had  been  withdrawn,  covertly, 
under  the  pretence  that  she  was  needed  to  pro 
tect  our  commerce  in  the  Gulf  of  Mexico,  while 
the  Mexican  ports  were  blocked  by  a  French  fleet, 
and  the  Macedonian  left  at  her  dock  at  Norfolk ! 
Thus  they  delayed  the  enterprise  ordered  by  Con 
gress  for  more  than  three  years  !  They  abstracted 
two  sloops  of  war,  and  a  gun  brig  from  the  pro 
tection  of  commerce,  in  order  to  send  them  on  the 

5* 


106  'FIRST  AMERICAN 

expedition,  which  they  pretended  was  not  naval ! 
And  when,  for  less  than  half  the  money  it  cost 
to  fit  these  vessels  for  the  survey,  others,  already, 
and  far  more  appropriate  for  the  service,  were  at 
hand! 

In  making  the  naval  appropriation  for  the  ser 
vice,  a  discussion  arose  in  the  House  of  Repre 
sentatives,  the  llth  of  April,  1838,  when  the 
outrage  committed  upon  professional  feeling  and 
pride,  in  the  appointment  of  Wilkes,  received  its 
just  comment.  Hon.  Mr.  Wise,  of  the  naval 
committee,  now  Governor  of  Virginia,  expressed 
himself  in  his  usual  independent  and  significant 
manner.  He  said  : 

"That  he  had  not  accused  Lieutenant  Wilkes  of  purchasing  his 
command  at  all ;  but  be  had  been  informed  that  intimations  had 
been  given  to  the  officers  of  a  higher  grade,  that  it  was  expected, 
if  appointed  to  the  command,  they  would  discharge  certain  indi 
viduals;  and  one  of  these  men,  like  a  true  officer,  had  replied,  that 
if  such  dismissals  were  to  be  made,  the  Department  must  take  the 
responsibility  of  making  them.  Mr.  W.  did  not  believe  that  it  was 
the  painter  that  was  to  be  discharged,  but  there  was  an  individual 
who  had  done  more,  in  the  first  instance,  to  get  up  the  expedition 
than  any  other  man  in  the  country,  and  who  had  expressed  himself 
rery  freely  in  the  public  journals  in  regard  to  the  Secretary,  and 
whom  it  was  the  object  of  the  Department  to  get  clear  of."*  Mr. 
Wise  said,  farther,  "  that,  if  his  information  was  correct,  Lieutenant 
Wilkes  had  been  selected,  not  on  the  ground  of  his  peculiar  scien- 

*  Governor  Wise  had  reference,  as  the  reader  must  know,  to  the  Hon. 
JT.  V.  Beynolds,  of  Xew  York. 


EXPLORING   EXPEDITION.  107 

tific  attainments,  nor  on  that  of  the  special  character  of  the  service, 
but  for  a  reason  entirely  different."  Mr.  Wise  said  "  he  had  his 
information  from  a  respectable  source,  and  such  was  the  belief  of 
some  gentlemen  in  the  navy." 


Mr.  Ingham,  chairman  of  the  naval  committee, 
attempted  the  defense  of  the  government  officials, 
and  contended  under  a  misrepresentation  made 
to  him,  and  for  which  he  was  not  responsible, 
that  the  force  having  been  curtailed  nearly 
one  half,  it  was  necessary  that  Wilkes  should 
reduce  the  scientific  corps  in  a  corresponding 
proportion !  Mr.  Ingham,  therefore,  said,  it  was 
very  singular,  indeed,  that  when  the  expedition 
was  to  contain  but  one  half  the  vessels,  and  the 
whole  outfit  cut  down  in  the  same  proportion, 
that  there  should  be  no  reduction  of  expense ! 
Mr.  Wise  said  that  Commodore  Jones  had  told 
him,  only  the  previous  day,  that  there  would 
not  be  a  dollar's  reduction  by  the  present  plan ! 
Here,  we  discover  that,  the  public  as  well  as 
members  of  Congress,  were  deceived,  cheated, 
by  the  representations  made  from  the  Depart 
ment,  that  the  squadron  prepared  under  the 
guidance  of  the  Lieutenant  Commodore,  consisted 
of  but  half  the  force  organized  under  Commodore 
Jones,  and,  under  this  deception,  these  official 


108  FIRST  AMERICAN 

managers  had,  in  a  great  degree,  defended  and 
justified  their  procedure  before  Congress  and  the 
country !  So  far  did  this  clique  go  to  fix  this 
impression  upon  the  public  sentiment,  that  Gover 
nor  Dickerson  embraced  an  opportunity,  after  he 
closed  his  four  years'  service  in  the  Navy  Depart 
ment,  to  congratulate  the  country  that  the  expe 
dition  had  been  reduced  one  half! 

Now,  Americans,  the  truth  about  the  matter 
was,  that  the  naval  force,  then  under  the  com 
mand  of  Lieutenant  Wilkes,  was  larger  than  the 
squadron  which  lay  in  the  port  of  New  York  under 
Commodore  Jones  ! 

Mark  it,  reader,  that,  after  a  three  years'  war 
against  the  magnitude  of  the  expedition,  by  Joel 
R.  Poinsett  &  Co.,  and  a  long  and  intensely  ac 
tive  effort  to  strangle  the  enterprise,  on  that  very 
account,  they  actually  gate  to  their  Lieutenant 
Commodore  a  larger  naval  force  than  that  com 
manded  by  Commodore  Jones !  Will  any  dare 
to  deny  this?  We  invite  them  to  the  proof! 
The  squadron  under  Lieutenant  Wilkes  consisted 
of— 

1.  The  sloop-of-war,  Vincennes,  Lieutenant  Charles  Wilkes,  Esq., 
Commander-in-chief,  with  twenty-two  subordinate  officers.  This 
is  a  twenty  gnn  ship;  which  cannot,  according  to  law,  oe  com 
manded  by  an  officer  under  the  grade  of  master-commander. 


EXPLORING   EXPEDITION.  109 

2.  Sloop-of-war,  Peacock,  Lieutenant  William  L.  Hudson,  com 
mander,   with  nineteen  subordinate  officers.      This  vessel,  now 
second  in  the  squadron,  had  recently  been  the  flag-ship  of  a  com 
modore  in  the  East  Indies. 

3.  Ship  Relief,  Lieutenant  A.  K.  Long,  commander,  with  nine 
subordinate  officers. 

4.  Brig-of-war  Porpoise,  Lieutenant  Oadwallader  Einggold,  com 
mander,  with  twelve  subordinate  officers. 

5.  Schooner  Flying  Fish,  Passed  Midshipman  Samuel  B.  Knox, 
commander. 

6.  Schooner  Sea  Gull,  Passed  Midshipman  James  W.  Keid,  com 
mander. 


SECTION  I. 

We  perceive,  here,  that  the  Macedonian,  of 
thirty-six  guns,  and  three  hundred  men,  was 
withdrawn,  and  the  Yincennes,  Peacock,  and 
Porpoise  substituted  therefor,  consisting  of  fifty- 
six  guns,  and  four  hundred  and  sixty  men  !  And 
we  further  discover  not  only  that  the  aggregate 
tonnage  and  number  of  vessels  in  Wilkes7  squad 
ron  were  greater  than  that  under  Commodore 
Jones,  but  that  the  aggregate  draught  of  water 
was  greater  ;  and  that  an  addition  of  one  schooner 
was  made  to  the  flotilla,  which  addition  had  been 
most  pertinaciously  refused  to  Commodore  Jones ! 
This  is  the  manner  the  first  American  enterprise 
of  discovery  was  made  "  altogether  scientific," 
and  its  force  reduced  to  "  one  half"  of  its  origi- 


110  FIRST   AMERICAN 

nal  proportions  !  Another  attempt  of  their  mis 
erable  trickery  was,  the  final  sailing  of  the  squad 
ron  without  the  full  complement  of  men !  mere 
illusion  to  deceive  the  people  ;  because,  as  they 
knew,  their  number  could  be  increased  in  a  for 
eign  port,  as  they  pleased ! 

Having  disposed  of  the  silly  plea,  that  the  force 
of  the  squadron  was  reduced  under  Wilkes'  com 
mand,  and  its  naval  character  taken  away,  we  will 
next  see  how  they  entrenched  themselves  behind 
reduced  expenses. 

Under  Commodore  Jones,  the  -squadron  con 
sisted  of  the  Macedonian,  Pioneer,  Consort,  Relief, 
and  Active,  and  the  expenses  did  not  exceed 
one  farthing  that  of  the  new  organization  under 
Lieutenant  Wilkes !  While,  for  efficiency  in 
navigating  high  latitudes,  protecting  commerce, 
surveying  or  scientific  research  among  the  islands 
of  the  Pacific,  the  comparison  between  the  good 
and  bad  plan  disgusted  and  disheartened  every 
practical  seaman  in  the  nation !  Was  there  ever 
a  more  flagrant  violation  of  law,  a  more  flagrant 
violation  of  the  published  regulations  of  the  Navy 
Department,  a  more  flagrant  outrage  upon  the 
professional  service,  than  was  committed  by  men 
then  invested  with  temporary  authority?  But 


EXPLORING   EXPEDITION. 


Ill 


the  science  and  intelligence  of  the  country  had 
now  passed  judgment  on  them !  and  the  secret 
springs  of  the  contemptible  action  of  Poinsett  & 
Co.  were  manifested  by  the  public  records  before 
the  country,  with  which  only  we  have  now  to  do. 

It  was  remarkable  foreknowledge  on  the  part 
of  a  low  lieutenant  that  he  should  have  six  months 
before  predicted  the  possibility  of  being  called  to 
command  the  expedition !  But  such  was  the  fact, 
that  he  did.  Congress  was  then  in  session,  and 
every  effort  was  made  to  hide  their  plans  and 
intentions.  The  friends  of  the  expedition  were 
feared  'in  and  out  of  that  body !  Officers  of  the 
navy  were  now  obliged  to  cease  their  complaining 
of  the  wrong  done  them,  for  the  paramount  rights 
of  the  commander  were  then  settled,  although  the 
details  of  the  arrangement  were  not  to  be  fixed 
until  after  the  Senate  adjourned  !  Thus  it  was  that 
these  heads  of  Department  dared  to  do  what 
they  could  not  find  Congress  so  corrupt  as  to 
sanction. 

Then  it  was  that  the  new  commander  spoke 
freely  of  his  plans  as  being  endorsed  by  President 
Yan  Buren  and  Mr.  Joel  R.  Poinsett !  He  de 
clared  his  intention  "  to  make  the  expedition  naval 
in  point  of  fact,  but  as  he  could  not  draught  a 


112  FIRST  AMERICAN 

scientific  corps  from  the  navy,  a  portion  of  the 
present  members  would  be  retained,  the  rest  dis 
missed."  Why?  Because  the  squadron  was 
reduced  !  Look  at  this  inconsistency,  reader,  and 
repress  your  deepest  indignation,  if  you  can ! 
That,  while  in  the  face  of  the  truth,  as  furnished 
from  prepared  documents,  these  men  had  added 
to  the  naval  force  under  Wilkes,  he  had  the  impu 
dence  to  assert  before  the  country  that  a  reduction 
of  one  half  had  taken  place  !  And  this  was  all 
done  to  make  it  scientific,  says  Poinsett  &  Co. ; 
but  their  prote'ge'  blundered  so  badly  as  to  make 
discrepancy  in  their  respective  tales,  for  Wilkes 
said  he  meant  to  make  it  entirely  naval !  What 
a  remarkable  instance  this  of  high  moral  and  offi 
cial  integrity !  And  it  did  not  await  its  reward 
for  post  mortem  honors ! 

SECTION    II. 

The  ground  upon  which  the  learned  Mr.  Wilkes 
was  thrust  into  command,  was  that  the  enterprise 
was  not  to  be  naval  but  scientific  !  What  did  the 
commander  then  do  for  science  ?  He  summarily 
erased  from  the  list  the  departments  of  anatomy 
and  comparative  philology  ;  while  entomology  and 


EXPLORING  EXPEDITION.  113 

crustaceology  were  pronounced  useless,  or  only 
deserving  the  attention  they  might  receive  from 
the  zoologists,  who  already  had  more  than  their 
proper  duties  assigned  them  !  Well  might  it  cause 
grief  to  every  friend  of  science,  to  every  one 
interested  in  the  true  glory  of  his  country,  when 
an  incompetent  lieutenant  was  allowed  to  lop  off 
from  the  expedition  these  members,  after  they  had 
made  every  preparation  to  join  the  expedition, 
and  under  the  plighted  faith  of  the  government,  by 
whom  they  were  commissioned,  and  were  ready 
to  sail  with  it  i  Nor  was  this  all ;  for  the  de 
partments  of  natural  philosophy  and  physical 
science,  which  a  Humboldt  or  an  Arago  would 
have  assumed  with  modest  distrust,  this  little 
lieutenant-commodore  took  into  his  own  keeping, 
in  addition  to  all  the  other  duties  which  devolved 
on  him ! !  The  assistant  zoological  draughtsmen 
and  landscape  and  portrait  painters,  trifles  in 
Wilkes'  estimation  and  those  who  governed  his 
acts,  were  also  set  aside !  As  to  Palceontology, 
which  educated  people  know  to  be  a  science  that 
treats  of  fossil  organic  remains,  vegetable  and 
animal,  and  that  it  has  done  more  to  unfold  and 
analyze  the  globe  we  inhabit  than  any  other 
science,  these  men  spurned  with  contempt !  They 


114  FIRST    AMERICAN 

declared  it  all  "humbug,"  and  the  department  as 
worthless,  in  connection  with  the  expedition ! 
How  mortifying!  how  humiliating  to  national 
pride ! 

"  The  secrets  of  Nature,"  says  the  learned  Buckland,  "that  are 
revealed  to  us  from  the  history  of  fossil  organic  remains,  form  per 
haps  the  most  striking  results  at  which  we  arrive  from  the  study 
of  geology.  It  must  appear  almost  incredible  to  those  who  have 
not  attended  to  natural  phenomena,  that  the  microscopic  examina 
tion  of  a  mass  of  rude  and  lifeless  limestone  should  often  disclos< 
the  curious  fact  that  large  portions  of  its  substance  have  once 
formed  parts  of  living  bodies.  It  is  surprising  to  consider  that  tin 
walls  of  our  houses  are  sometimes  composed  of  little  else  than  com 
minuted  shells,  that  were  once  the  doinicils  of  other  animals  at  the 
bottom  of  ancient  seas  and  lakes. 

"  It  is  marvellous  that  mankind  should  have  gone  on  for  so  many 
centuries  in  ignorance  of  the  fact  which  is  now  so  fully  demonstra 
ted,  that  no  small  part  of  the  present  surface  of  the  earth  is  derived 
from  the  remains  of  animals  that  constituted  the  population  of 
ancient  seas.  Many  extensive  plains  and  massive  mountains  form, 
as  it  were,  the  great  charnel-house  of  preceding  generations,  in 
which  the  petrified  exuviaa  of  extinct  races  of  animals  and  vegeta 
bles  are  piled  into  stupendous  monuments  of  the  operations  of  life 
and  death,  during  almost  immeasurable  periods  of  past  time." 

Cuvier   said  ' '  that    the  wreck   of  animal  life 

*s  *J 

formed  almost  the  entire  soil  on  which  we  tread." 
And  from  a  sight  so  imposing,  and  so  terrible, 
was  our  young  and  intelligent  nation  to  be  kept, 
because  a  naval  cabal  did  not  understand  its 
meaning  or  its  benefit  ?  Cuvier's  great  works  as 
a  naturalist,  arose  from  his  examination  of  the 
fossil  bones  of  the  environs  of  Paris.  Deshaye's 


EXPLORING   EXPEDITION.  115 

-----  .  v,   < 

fame,  came  from  studying  the  fossil  shells  of  the 

same  region.  Brogniart's  celebrity  rests  on  the 
same  science.  Desmarest  got  his  honors  in  the 
same  way.  And  Agassiz,  in  whom  Americans 
have  pride,  owes  his  reputation  for  science,  to  his 
work  on  fossil  fishes.  Buckland  wrote  a  work 
on  the  fossil  bones  in  the  caves  of  England  and 
"Wales.  But,  the  Bridge  water  Treatise,  LyelFs, 
and  other  like  works,  were  as  impenetrable  to 
the  intellects  of  these  managers  of  the  expedition, 
as  the  component  parts  of  an  Egyptian  mummy ! 

Before  the  vandal  act  of  excluding  palaeonto 
logy  had  been  committed,  it  would  have  been  well 
to  have  consulted  the  archives  of  several  of  the 
states  where,  in  connection  with  geological  sur 
veys,  that  department  of  science  had  been  then 
created ! 

It  is  well  to  remember,  that  Wilkes  only  enact 
ed  the  will  of  Poinsett  &  Co.  They  delayed  the 
expedition,  sowed  discord  among  the  officers, 
made  jealousy  between  them  and  the  scientific 
corps,  by  throwing  out  the  idea  that  the  latter 
would  cheat  them  of  their  glory  ;  refused  to  order 
any  one  to  join  the  expedition  ;  released  those 
who  did  not  wish  to  go  ;  rewarded  those  who 
abused  Commodore  Jones,  and  J.  N.  Reynolds, 


116  FIRST   AMERICAN 

its  author  ;  allowed  Wilkes  to  keep  the  instru 
ments  in  his  possession,  which  he  brought  from 
Europe,  when  it  was  his  duty  to  have  handed 
them  to  Johnson,  for  whose  department  they  were 
provided ;  corresponded  secretly  with  officers 
under  Commodore  Jones,  and  ordered  Jones  to 
sail,  while  they  kept  out  of  his  power  the  instru 
ments  he  needed  to  do  so  ;  refused  to  allow  the 
scientific  corps  to  draw  their  pay,  after  President 
Jackson  forced  their  appointment ;  and  finally, 
did  all  they  possibly  could  to  disgust  these  gen 
tlemen,  and  drive  them  to  the  necessity  of  resign 
ing  their  commissions  in  the  expedition. 

SECTION  in. 

All  this  while,  these  men  made  General  Jack 
son  believe  they  favored  the  measure,  because 
they  were  afraid  of  their  places.  But  after 
getting  their  favorite  in  the  command,  these  men 
saw  they  had  done  all  necessary  to  monopolize 
the  glory,  and  having  raised  the  cry  of  economy, 
they  pretended  to  reduce  the  naval  force,  and  cut 
down  the  scientific  to  correspond !  Was  ever  a 
greater  amount  of  villainy  practised  than  that  in 
connection  with  this  first  American  enterprise  of 


•    •  -T7 

EXPLORING   EXPEDITION.  117 

'  jl  i    ,  .  -    •     '  Clr.   ^»     «     *      !  •  _K'I 

exploration?    We  believe  no  records  on  earth, 
could  show  a  more  diabolical  conspiracy  ! 

In  retrenching  the  scientific  part  of  the  expe 
dition,  the  deepest  malignancy  and  envy  pre 
vailed.  Hale  was  retained  from  sheer  timidity  : — 
they  feared  the  savans  who  pressed  his  claims. 
Dr.  Reynell  Coates  was  dismissed,  because  Wilkes 
thought  the  purser's  steward  could  answer  for  the 
anatomist !  Professor  W.  R.  Johnson  was  also 
stricken  from  the  list,  because  Wilkes  professed  to 
understand  "  Natural  Philosophy,"  as  well  as  he 
did,  and  there  was  no  necessity  for  his  services  ! 
It  seemed  that  once  this  Mr.  Johnson  served  on 
a  committee  with  Professors  Bache  and  Henry, 
to  test  some  magnetical  experiment  of  Wilkes, 
on  "Smith's  Compass  Needle."  These  gentle 
men  pronounced  Wilkes'  deductions  utterly  ab 
surd,  and  the  very  reverse  of  his  demonstration  ! 
This  was  enough  to  settle  the  question  with  John 
son,  although  he  had  been  endorsed  for  scientific 
capacity,  by  such  eminent  savans  of  the  coun 
try,  as  Professors  Farrar,  Silliman,  Henry,  and 
Mitchell.  It  was  absolutely  necessary  that  the 
man  who  obtained  the  bond,  fide  command  of  this 
national  enterprise,  should  bind  himself,  soul  and 
body,  to  do  anything  and  everything  the  couspi- 


118  FIRST   AMERICAN. 

»      i     I 

rators  required  should  be  done.  They  therefore 
gave  to  Wilkes  more  enlarged  powers  than  were 
ever  conceded  to  Commodore  Jones  !  For  Wilkes 
had  the  privilege  of  choosing  his  own  officers,  which 
was  refused  Jones.  He  had  increased  pay  allowed 
both  himself  and  officers  ;  this  also  was  refused 
Jones  I  Wilkes  was  given  an  additional  schooner, 
which  they  had  denied,  likewise,  to  his  superior. 
In  short,  these  officials,  whose  whole  influence 
rested  upon  the  appendage  of  office,  made  their 
dictum  overrule  the  authority  of  Congress,  and 
the  will  of  the  American  people !  They  reduced 
the  scientific  corps,  and  made  it  more  military  and 
naval ;  while  throwing  all  possible  mystery  around 
their  doings,  they  attempted  to  cheat  the  people, 
with  the  facts  before  their  eyes ! 

Honorable  Joel  R.  Poinsett,  was  the  man  who 
laid  the  last  hostile  hand  upon  the  enterprise, 
which  was  designed  to  enrich  and  enlarge  the 
boundaries  of  human  knowledge,  and  bring  upon 
the  country  high  national  renown  !  It  was  Poin 
sett,  we  remember,  who  took  the  squadron  from 
the  command  of  Captain  Kearney,  which  would 
have  placed  it  above  the  reach  of  the  enemies  of 
the  enterprise,  as  he  foresaw,  and  therefore  pre 
vented  it  in  a  night  !  Through  him  and  his  con- 


EXPLORING   EXPEDITION.  119 

federates,  Smith,  Gregory,  Kennon,  Aulick,  and 
Tatnall,  were  all  badly  treated ! 

These  conspirators  degraded  American  genius 
by  their  stupidity,  and  caused  the  blush  of  shame 
to  our  learned  societies,  by  their  course  towards 
the  various  departments  of  science.  Entomology, 
for  example,  they  utterly  rejected,  although  it 
equals  in  extent,  all  the  other  sciences  of  the  ani 
mal  kingdom  put  together !  The  societies  of 
London  and  Paris  devoted  to  this  subject,  com 
prised  hundreds  of  members,  and  their  transac 
tions  at  that  day,  were  published  throughout  the 
civilized  world !  Moreover,  they  had  agents  and 
correspondents  in  our  own  country,  as  everywhere 
else.  How  must  we  have  appeared  to  them, 
when,  in  the  first  great  scientific  voyage  of  dis 
covery,  a  department  of  natural  history,  so  essen 
tial  to  the  study  of  geology,  was  declared  nuga 
tory  ! 

The  French  government,  at  the  same  time,  had 
engaged  twenty  naturalists  to  complete  a  work  of 
sixty  volumes,  on  that  single  subject !  Cuvier's 
work,  so  classical  and  philosophical,  as  to  rank 
him  ever  as  the  prince  among  naturalists,  was  on 
the  shelves  of  every  well  selected  library  of  our 

country,  and  had  better  have  been  examined  by 

J '  {  *  J 


120  FIRST   AMERICAN 

these  wiseacres  before  they  pronounced  the  sci 
ence  of  entomology  useless,  and  dismissed  Mr. 
Randall  thereby,  with  so  much  good  will  !  Just 
as  they  did  Dr.  Reynell  Coates,  from  the  depart 
ment  of  comparative  anatomy,  and  Professor 
Johnson,  from  that  of  natural  philosophy  ! 


SECTION  V. 

•  t  •  t  r 

But  there  was  one  other  gentleman,  against 
whom  a  greater  degree  of  malevolence  was  con 
centrated,  than  was  exhibited  towards  all  besides. 
This  was  Hon.  J.  N.  Reynolds,  originator  of  the 
expedition  !  The  fiat  had  long  gone  forth,  that 
he  must  not  accompany  the  enterprise,  to  share 
in  its  future  glory.  How  to  get  rid  of  him  was 
the  trouble,  but  it  had  to  be  done,  at  any  cost. 
The  distinguished  officers  appointed  to  the  com 
mand,  would  not,  therefore,  do  !  They  knew 
and  acknowledged  the  services  of  Mr.  Reynolds, 
and  all  desired  he  should  accompany  the  expedi 
tion. 

But  Wilkes  said  he  would  absolutely  refuse  to 
take  him,  and  pretend  that  he  did  so  for  the  sake 
of  harmony  ;  and  that  he  would  say  further  that 
he  knew  nothing  of  the  powerful  recommenda^ 


EXPLORING   EXPEDITION.  121 

tions  of  all  the  West  to  the  President  for  Mr. 
Reynolds'  appointment  to  a  position  in  the  expe 
dition.  That  moment  the  bargain  was  struck. 
He  sold  himself  to  his  confederates,  and  he  fully 
answered  their  purpose ! 

On  the  30th  of  July,  1838,  Mr.  Reynolds,  now 
a  citizen  of  New  York,  addressed  a  letter  to 
Poinsett,  demanding  to  know  why  neither  he  nor 
his  friends  had  received  a  reply  to  the  communi 
cation  of  the  Western  delegation  in  Congress, 
addressed  to  the  President  two  months  previous, 
in  reference  to  his  appointment  in  the  South  Sea 
Expedition.  He  then  stated  that, 

"If  it  was  determined  he  should  hold  no  station,  with  or  without 
defined  duties  and  a  salary  attached,  he  wished  to  know  if  he  could, 
as  a  volunteer,  without  compensation  and  without  duties  defined, 
accompany  said  expedition,  asking  no  other  protection  from  the 
Department  or  commander  than  was  guaranteed  by  the  rules  of  the 
service  to  a  sailor  before  the  mast.'1'' 

The  immediate  reply  of  Mr.  Poinsett,  on  the 
1st  of  August,  1838,  shows  the  evident  collusion 
between  himself  and  President  Yan  Buren  and 
Commander  Wilkes.  He  affirms  that  he  never 
knew  that  such  a  letter  existed !  that  he  had  a 
private  one  from  a  gentleman  in  Ohio,  asking 
that  Mr.  Reynolds  should  go  out  as  a  commercial 
agent,  and  added, 

0 


122  FIRST   AMERICAN 

"But  I  knew  the  President  had  decided  that  no  such  officer 
should  be  appointed,  nor  could  I,  with  my  views  of  the  subject, 
recommend  such  a  measure  to  his  favorable  consideration. 

"Being  about  to  take  my  departure  from  Washington,  and  expect 
ing  to  be  absent  some  weeks,  I  addressed  a  letter  to  the  Secretary 
of  the  Navy,  in  which  I  expressed  my  opinion  of  the  composition  of 
the  scientific  corps,  their  number  and  description,  but  without 
designating  the  persons.  I  think  he  ought,  and  presume  he  will, 
be  governed  in  his  choice  by  the  wishes  of  the  commander  of  the 
squadron,  for  it  is  essential  to  the  success  of  the  expedition  thai 
the  utmost  harmony  should  exist  between  the  naval  officers  and  the 
members  of  that  corps. 

"  Your  desire  to  accompany  the  expedition  is  natural,  and,  under 
ordinary  circumstances,  your  having,  in  some  measure,  originated  the 
design,  would  give  you  a  strong  claim  to  be  indulged  in  your  wishes ; 
but  all  subordinate  considerations  must  yield  to  the  paramount  one 
of  conducting  the  expedition  to  a  successful  issue. 

"  Your  letter  has  been  sent  to  the  Navy  Department." 

Attend  particularly  to  this  letter,  reader !  He 
admits  ignorance  of  what  he  ought  to  have  known, 
and  then  confesses  he  had  conferred  with  the 
President  on  the  subject!  Who  can  explain 
away  the  belief,  that  with  a  knowledge  of  Mr. 
Reynolds'  efforts  to  procure  the  law  authorizing 
the  expedition,  and  the  independent  manner  in 
which  he  had  denounced  the  official  action  of  the 
government,  that  Poinsett  and  Van  Buren  had 
not,  when  on  the  subject,  made  allusion  to  such 
a  letter  from  a  delegation  in  Congress?  Who 
believes  it  ?  Who  ?  With  another  remark  on  this 
singular  Jesuitical  letter,  we  leave  you,  reader,  to 


EXPLORING   EXPEDITION.  123 

approve  it,  if  you  cart!  This  innocent  secretary 
thought  the  wishes  of  the  commander  should  govern 
in  the  selection  of  individuals  for  the  sake  of  har 
mony,  &c.  This  exactly  corresponds  with  what 
Wilkes  had  already  agreed  to  say  of  Mr.  Reynolds, 
viz.,  that  harmony  required  he  should  not  be  in 
the  expedition  !  What  martyrs  to  truth,  ye  mag 
nanimous  men!  The  pretended  reference,  too, 
to  the  Navy  Department  was  to  implicate  Hon. 
J.  K.  Paulding,  then  Secretary  of  that  Depart 
ment.  But  it  was  notorious  that  the  whole 
matter  was  hurried  through ;  proclamation  of 
change  in  the  organization  made  ;  Wilkes  ap 
pointed,  and  all  regulations  perfected  to  prevent 
Mr.  Paulding  from  having  the  power  to  interfere 
in  their  action !  They  knew  he  would  not  stoop 
to  such  a  course,  but  would  arrest  it,  and  that  he 
had  already,  in  his  letter  to  Mr.  Reynolds,  shown 
his  views  of  what  was  proper  to  be  done  for 
advancing  the  expedition  as  originally  designed. 


124  FIRST   AMERICAN 


SECTION   V. 

We  cannot  forbear  now  from  giving  the  official 
confirmation  of  our  own  premises,  which  so  com 
pletely  identifies  Mr.  Reynolds  with  the  first  work 
of  American  exploration. 

To  his  Excellency  the  President  of  the  United  States. 

The  undersigned,  members  of  Congress  from  the  State  of  Ohio, 
avail  themselves  of  this  occasion  to  express  their  gratification  upon 
learning  that  the  Exploring  Expedition,  authorized  by  a  recent  act 
of  Congress,  is  about  to  be  fitted  out  in  a  manner  worthy  of  our 
great  republic. 

They  feel  it  to  be  a  duty  which  they  owe,  as  well  to  their  con 
stituents  the  people  of  Ohio  as  to  their  common  country,  to  re 
mind  the  administration  of  the  claims  of  J.  N.  Reynolds,  Esq.,  to 
a  prominent  place  in  the  proposed  expedition.  His  long  and  ar 
dent  services  in  calling  public  attention  to  this  question,  and  urging 
its  adoption  by  Congress ;  his  zeal  and  untiring  industry  in  collect 
ing  information  in  reference  to  it;  his  intimate  acquaintance  with 
all  the  interests  of  the  commercial  community  (between  whom  and 
himself  there  exists  a  long  and  intimate  intercourse),  whose  inter 
ests  are  afloat  in  those  seas ;  the  kind  relations  subsisting  between 
him  and  most  of  the  scientific  men  and  societies  of  our  large  cities, 
as  well  as  his  personal  acquaintance  with  the  South  Seas,  and  big 
unusual  mass  of  information  in  regard  to  their  localities,  eminently 
qualify  him  to  be  placed  at  the  head  of  the  civil  corps  which  is  to 
accompany  the  squadrorf^ 

The  services  and  qualifications  of  Mr.  Reynolds  have  been  ac 
knowledged  by  every  committee  who  have  reported  upon  the  sub 
ject,  and  are  appreciated  by  Congress  and  the  whole  country. 

The  undersigned  believe  that  they  express  as  well  their  own 
sentiments  and  those  of  their  constituents,  as  of  the  friends  of  the 
expedition  generally,  in  asking  that  Mr.  Reynolds  be  placed  at  the 
head  of  the  civil  and  scientific  corps,  having  a  general  superin 
tendence  over,  and  that  he  be  authorized  to  write  the  history  of 


EXPLORING   EXPEDITION.  125 


the  expedition,  having  such  rank,  powers,  and  compensation,  as  the 

administration  may  think  proper  to  bestow. 

Respectfully,  your  obedient  servants, 
BENJAMIN  JONES,  WILLIAM  PATTERSON, 

WILLIAM  K.  BOND,  DAVID  SPANGLER, 

THOMAS  CORWIN,  ELISHA  WHITTLESEY, 

B.  STOKER,  I.  SLOANE, 

JOSH.  H.  CRANE,  WILLIAM  HERMON, 

SAMUEL  F.  VINTON,  J.  M'LENE, 

S.  MASON,  JOHN  THOMSON, 

T.  L.  HAMER,  TAYLOR  WEBSTER, 

ELIAS  Ho  WELL,  DANIEL  KILGORE. 

JOHN  OHANEY, 
July  Zd,  1886. 

To  Ms  Excellency  Andrew  Jackson. 

SIR  : — In  the  Exploring  Expedition  which  has  been  ordered  out 
under  the  direction  of  the  general  government,  we  would  respect 
fully  recommend  J.  N.  Reynolds,  Esq.,  as  the  chief  of  the  civil  ap 
pointments. 

The  unremitting  zeal  of  this  gentleman  in  the  cause  of  his  coun 
try  and  of  science,  his  former  experience  as  a  navigator,  his  scien 
tific  acquirements  and  capacity,  would  seem  to  us  to  point  him  out 
as  the  person  most  deserving  the  appointment. 

J.  FRY,  JUN.,  Jos.  HENDERSON, 

J.  B.  ANTHONY,  J.  MILLER, 

EDWARD  B.  HULL,  HENRY  A.  MUHLENBUBO, 

J.  R.  INGERSOLL,  H.  L.  PINCKNEY, 

A.  BEAUMONT,  JOHN  REYNOLDS, 

GEORGE  CHAMBERS,  R.  JOHNSON, 

E.  DARLINGTON,  A.  HUNTSMAN, 

DAVID  POTTS,  JUN.,  FRANCIS  THOMAS, 

J.  B.  SUTHERLAND,  DUTEE  J.  PEAROE, 

ISAAC  M'KiM,  WILLIAM  SPRAGUB, 

JOHN  M'lvEON,  A.  VANDERPOOL, 

G.  W.  OWENS,  WILLIAM  L.  MAT, 

ELY  MOORE,  Z.  CAREY, 

SAMUEL  BARTON,  GEORGE  L.  KINNAKD, 

R.  H.  GILLET,  A.  LANE, 

J.  Y.  MASON,  JOHN  CRAMER, 

JAMES  HARPER,  0.  0.  CAMBRELEN&, 

JOHN  REED,  J.  TOUCHY, 

BENJAMIM  C.  HOWARD,  R.  BOON. 

A.  WARD, 


126  FIRST  AMERICAN 


To  the  President  of  the  United  States. 

HOUSE  OF  REPRESENTATIVES,  2d  July,  1S86. 

SEE: — I  have  learned  with  pleasure  that  the  Expedition  to  the 
South  Seas  will  be  dispatched  in  due  time,  and  that  you  have 
directed  it  to  be  fitted  out  as  becomes  the  interest  and  character  of 
the  country  over  which  yon  preside.  Yes,  I  rejoice  that  you  have 
done  so,  for  I  sincerely  believe  that  no  act  of  Congress  for  years  has 
been  so  honorable  to  our  national  character,  none  that  will  reflect 
more  credit  on  your  administration ;  as  the  undertaking  will  attract 
the  eyes  of  the  whole  civilized  world,  and  its  results  become  matters 
of  interest  and  of  record  in  every  part  of  Christendom. 

To  be  appointed  at  once,  with  a  liberal  allowance,  to  the  first  place 
in  the  civil  department  of  this  expedition,  I  beg  leave  strongly  to 
recommend  my  friend  J.  N.  Reynolds,  Esq. 

In  reference  to  this  gentleman  I  must  be  permitted  to  speak  with 
freedom,  for  I  have  known  him  long  and  intimately.  His  labors  in 
this  cause,  so  perseveringly  continued,  are  well  known  to  the  whole 
country;  in  an  especial  manner  are  they  known  and  appreciated 
by  the  whole  of  that  portion  of  our  fellow-citizens  interested  in  the 
commerce  of  the  Pacific,  and  who  have  expressed  so  much  interest 
in  having  this  expedition  fitted  out. 

I  was  in  Providence  in  October,  1834,  when  Mr.  Reynolds  made 
an  address  before  that  body,  for  the  purpose  of  getting  an  expression 
of  the  Legislature  of  my  State  in  its  favor;  which  was  readily 
given,  as  the  people  of  Rhode  Island  take  a  lively  interest  in  the 
undertaking. 

From  that  period  to  the  present  session  and  final  action  of  Con 
gress  on  this  subject,  I  have  held  with  Mr.  Reynolds  a  constant 
correspondence,  and  Mr.  R.  has  at  all  times  consulted  with  me  as 
to  the  steps  necessary  to  be  taken  to  effect  the  object  for  which  he 
has  labored  so  long. 

At -the  last  session  I  made  a  report  in  favor  of  the  expedition 
from  the  committee  on  commerce,  which  was  not  acted  on  by  tho 
House  for  want  of  time. 

At  the  present  session  Mr.  Reynolds  again  conferred  with  me, 
procured  a  recommendation  from  the  Legislature  of  New  Jersey, 
and,  when  be  arrived  in  this  city,  I  agreed  with  him  that  it  was  the 
best  plan  to  commence  in  the  Senate,  which  was  accordingly  done. 
The  result,  since  that  time-,  is  known  to  you.  The  measure  passed 


EXPLORING   EXPEDITION.  127 

~by  an  overwhelming  vote  ofboih  houses,  and  has  been  much  approved 
in  all  sections  of  the  country.  These  are  some  of  the  circumstances 
which  enable  me  to  speak  so  strongly  in  favor  of  Mr.  Reynolds,whos6 
labors  and  sacrifices  in  this  cause  have  made  him  well  known  to  the 
members  of  this  House.  I  do  not  hesitate  to  say  that  to  his  efforts^ 
more  than  any  man  living,  is  the  country  indebted  for  the  successful 
prosecution  of  the  measure  before  Congress. 

These  facts  made  known  to  you,  it  will,  I  am  sure,  no  longer  be 
a  question  as  to  the  part  which  shall  be  assigned  to  him.  The  organ 
ization  of  the  scientific  corps  could  not  be  committed  to  better 
hands ;  and  especially  do  I  wish  that  to  him  may  be  assigned  the 
duty  of  writing  the  official  account  of  the  cruise. 

With  great  consideration  and  respect, 
I  am  your  friend, 

DUTEE  J.  PEABOE. 


To  the  President  of  the  United  States. 

HOUSE  OF  REPRESENTATIVES,  %d  July,  1886. 

SIR: — I  beg  leave  respectfully  to  recommend  J.  N.  Reynolds, 
Esq.,  for  the  chief  of  the  civil  appointments  connected  with  the  Ex 
ploring  Expedition  to  be  sent  out  to  the  South  Seas.  In  this  I  am 
governed  by  a  desire  to  see  merit  adequately  rewarded  in  the 
appointment  of  a  gentleman  whose  past  services  and  scientific  nauti 
cal  researches  appear  to  point  him  out  as  one  who  has  earned  the 
place  and  is  eminently  qualified  to  fill  it. 

The  friends  of  Mr.  Reynolds,  particularly  in  the  western  country 
where  he  was  raised,  have  long  admired  the  ability  and  utility  which 
have  attended  his  devotion ;  and,  I  may  add,  they  would  be  much 
gratified  if  this  meritorious  son  of  the  West  could  be  placed  in  a 
situation  where  he  might  earn  still  higher  distinction  for  himself, 
and,  at  the  same  time,  confer  greater  advantages  upon  his  country. 
With  sentiments  of  the  highest  esteem, 

Your  friend  and  most  obedient  servant, 

GEORGE  L.  K INNAUD. 


128  FIRST   AMERICAN 

To  the  President. 

SENATE  CHAMBBR,  WASHISGTON,  Zd  July,  1836. 

SEE  : — I  would  inform  the  President  that  many  of  my  constitu 
ents  feel  a  deep  interest  in  the  Exploring  Expedition  authorized 
during  the  present  session,  and  which  I  understood  the  executive 
has  decided  to  fit  out  the  present  season;  and  that,  having  a  high 
opinion  of  the  character  and  qualifications  of  J.  N.  Keynolds,  Esq., 
and  of  his  capabilities  to  be  useful  in  said  expedition,  I  respectfully 
recommend  him  to  the  President  for  the  highest  civil  appointment 
connected  with  the  expedition;  and  will  add,  that  his  appoint 
ment  will  afford  me  personally  much  gratification. 
I  have  the  honor  to  be, 

Respectfully,  your  obedient  servant, 

JOHN  M.  NILES. 


WASHINGTON,  51A  July,  1886. 

DEAB  Snj : — I  enclose  you  several  papers  in  relation  to  the  ap 
pointment  of  J.  N.  Eeynolds,  Esq.,  as  chief  of  the  civil  and  scientific 
corps  which  goes  out  with  the  exploring  squadron  to  the  South 
Seas. 

No.  1  is  the  unanimous  recommendation  of  the  representatives 
from  Ohio  (without  distinction  of  party)  that  he  be  thus  appointed. 

No.  2  is  the  recommendation  of  some  forty  or  fifty  Members  of 
Congress  from  other  States,  asking  for  him  the  same  station.  This 
paper  was  got  up  without  the  knowledge  of  Mr.  Keynolds  or  any 
of  the  Ohio  delegation,  and  I  have  no  doubt  a  hundred  additional 
names  could  have  been  obtained,  if  any  one  had  taken  the  trouble  to 
circulate  it  through  the  House.  It  was  not  deemed  necessary,  and 
was  not  therefore  done. 

It  contains  the  names  of  a  majority  of  representatives  from  In 
diana,  of  Illinois,  and  Rhode  Island;  of  a  great  portion  of  Pennsyl 
vania  ;  and  of  gentlemen  of  distinction  from  a  majority  of  the  other 
States  of  the  Union. 

No.  8  consists  of  letters  from  gentlemen  of  respectability  and 
science,  from  various  quarters  of  the  country,  to  the  same  effect. 
They  all  speak  the  same  language  and  breathe  the  same  spirit. 

These  documents,  taken  together,  leave  no  doubt  of  the  state  of 


EXPLORING   EXPEDITION.  129 

public  opinion  upon  this  question.  All  who  have  reflected  much 
upon  the  subject  feel  the  necessity  of  an  efficient  organization,  with 
a  responsible  chief,  to  produce  unity  and  harmony  of  action.  All 
who  are  aware  of  the  large  space  which  Mr.  Reynolds  fills  in  the 
public  eye,  in  connection  with  the  great  enterprise,  at  once  point  to 
him  as  the  most  suitable  person  to  fill  this  station  ;  that  he  ought  to 
obtain  it  (in  the  character  of  commercial  agent,  or  such  other  as 
may  be  thought  advisable),  and  be  allowed  to  write  the  history  of 
the  expediton,  I  have  never  doubted  for  a  moment. 

Few  persons  seem  to  be  aware  of  the  immense  importance  of 
this  expedition  to  our  national  character.  It  will  rivet  the  attention 
of  every  intelligent  man  in  Christendom  for  years  to  come,  and  it 
will  be  looked  upon  hereafter  as  an  epoch  in  our  history.  It  will 
surprise  the  elder  nations  of  Europe  to  see  that  a  new  people  like 
Uji  have  undertaken  this  voyage.  But  how  much  will  their  wonder 
be  increased  to  perceive  that  we  have  organized  it  upon  a  plan 
which,  for  enlargement  of  conception,  liberality  of  sentiment,  and 
efficiency  of  action,  renders  it  decidedly  superior  to  anything  of  the 
kind  which  they  have  attempted. 

That  this  great  undertaking  may  redound  to  the  honor  of  your 
administration,  and  to  the  glory,  happiness,  and  prosperity  of  our 
beloved  country,  is  the  ardent  prayer  of 

Your  excellency's  obliged  friend 

And  obedient  servant, 

T.  L.  HAMEE. 

To  his  Excellency  Andrew  Jackson. 


To  his  Excellency,  Martin   Van  Buren,  President  of  the  United 

States. 

The  undersigned,  members  of  Congress  from  the  West,  beg  leave, 
once  more,  very  respectfully,  though  earnestly,  to  call  the  attention 
of  the  administration  to  the  claims  of  J.  N.  Reynolds,  Esq.,  to  a 
prominent  place  in  the  Exploring  Expedition.  This  measure  was 
early  and  warmly  supported  by  the  West.  It  was  originated  and 

6* 


130  FIRST    AMERICAN 

first  called  to  the  attention  of  Congress  by  one  of  her  sons.  She 
still  continues  to  feel  an  interest,  and  still  indulges  the  hope  that  it 
may  be  so  equipped  as  not  to  disappoint  the  just  expectations  of 
the  country ;  she  still  hopes  to  see  it  depart  in  skillful  and  experi 
enced  hands,  unshorn  of  its  naval  or  scientific  strength.  Congress 
has  made  repeated  appropriations,  which  leave  no  doubt  of  the  hold 
of  the  expedition  upon  science,  the  intelligence,  and  pride  of  the 
nation. 

The  whole  Ohio  delegation,  as  well  as  many  other  members  of 
the  House,  immediately  after  the  passage  of  the  law  authorizing  the 
measure,  addressed  communications  to  the  late  executive.  After 
congratulating  him  on  account  of  the  interest  he  took  in  directing 
the  expedition  to  be  fitted  out  in  a  manner  worthy  "our  great 
republic,"  they  proceeded  to  call  his  attention  to  the  claims  of  one 
who  had  done  so  much  in  calling  public  attention  to  the  importance 
of  the  enterprise,  and  in  urging  its  adoption  by  Congress.  The 
friends  of  the  measure  knew  the  important  part  Mr.  Reynolds  had 
acted,  and  they  were  influenced  not  more  by  a  sense  of  justice  than 
a  desire  for  the  success  of  the  enterprise,  in  asking  for  Mr.  Reynolds 
a  prominent  portion  in  it.  The  commercial  interests  of  the  United 
States  in  the  seas  to  be  visited  are  well-known  to  the  executive; 
they  are  immense,  and  still  susceptible  of  great  extension.  In  ask 
ing  that  Mr.  Reynolds  be  placed  at  the  head  of  the  civil  department 
attached  to  the  expedition,  was  only  asking,  in  other  words,  that 
he  should  receive  the  appointment  of  commercial  agent.  Until 
recently,  many  of  us  supposed  that  station  bad  been  assigned  to 
him ;  that  he  ought  to  have  it,  and  be  authorized  to  write  the  offi 
cial  account  of  the  expedition,  we  have  never  doubted.  That  he  is 
eminently  qualified  to  perform  these  duties,  under  the  sanction  and 
regulations  of  the  department,  cannot  be  doubted;  that  Tie  ha* 
abundantly  earned  the  distinction  which  they  would  confer  upon 
him  will  admit  of  as  little  question. 

Mr.  Reynolds  has  uttered  no  complaints  to  his  friends,  and  it  has  not 
been  until  since  the  passage  of  the  last  bill  of  appropriation  that  they 
became  aware  of  the  actual  position  the  Secretary  of  the  Navy  had 
assigned  him ;  and  not  even  then,  till  the  discussions  in  the  House 
seemed  to  leave  some  doubt  whether  he  was  to  accompany  the  ex 
pedition,  in  any  capacity,  had  led  to  direct  inquiries  upon  the  sub 
ject.  Any  officer,  conversant  with  the  history  of  this  expedition, 


EXPLORING   EXPEDITION  131 

and  knowing  the  relation  Mr.  Reynolds  has  maintained  to  it,  both 
in  and  out  of  Congress,  and  should  object  to  his  participating  largely 
in  its  labors,  would,  from  that  fact,  in  the  opinion  of  the  under 
signed,  ~be  himself  unfit  to  command;  and  the  interests  of  the  expe 
dition,  and  the  honor  of  the  country  would,  in  all  probability,  be 
best  consulted  by  his  dismissal,  and  the  supplying  of  his  place  by 
one  of  more  just,  liberal,  and  enlarged  views. 

The  undersigned  have  learned,  with  deep  regret,  that  to  Mr.  Rey 
nolds,  the  originator,  the  indomitable  advocate,  who  has,  for  so  long 
a  time,  persevered  against  every  discouragement,  whose  knowledge 
upon  the  subject  has  been  so  fully  appreciated  by  committees  and 
members  of  Congress,  and  has  enlisted  so  large  a  share  of  public 
feeling  throughout  the  country,  has  received  from  the  Department 
the  meagre,  unmeaning  appointment  of  "  corresponding  secretary  to 
the  commander,"  to  perform  such  duty  on  the  expedition  as  the  jus 
tice  or  caprice  of  a  commander  might  direct;  while  the  names  and 
duties  of  all  others  composing  the  scientific  corps,  as  well  as  juniors 
in  command,  were  conspicuously  named  in  the  general  instructions 
for  the  guidance  of  the  expedition,  were  thus  recognized  by  the 
Department  in  a  document  to  be  preserved  in  all  coming  time ;  but 
in  that  list,  and  in  that  document,  tlie  name  of  J.  N.  Reynolds,  we 
learn,  is  nowhere  to  be  found  ;  that  no  duties  were  assigned  him  by 
the  Secretary;  in  a  word,  that  the  action  of  the  Department, 
whether  intended  or  not,  would  go  to  show  that  Mr.  Reynolds  was 
not  recognized  by  government,  or  known  in  the  enterprise,  except 
only  so  far  as  he  had  an  order  in  the  form  of  an  appointment  from 
the  Secretary,  directing  him  to  report  to  the  commander  for 
duty. 

The  undersigned  forbear  further  comment  on  this  subject,  and 
content  themselves  with  protesting,  in  the  name  of  their  constitu 
ents,  the  people  of  the  West,  as  well  as  in  their  own  names,  against  the 
continuance  of  such  obvious  injustice  to  their  fellow-citizen,  who  has, 
in  their  opinion,  earned  far  different  treatment  at  the  hands  of  gov 
ernment.  They  are  aware  that  many  difficulties  have  thus  far  at 
tended  the  fitting  out  of  the  expedition:  upon  these  difficulties  they 
feel  no  disposition  to  dwell.  It  is  enough  for  them  to  call  tin 
attention  of  the  President  to  the  subject,  in  a  spirit  of  frank 
ness  and  kindness,  feeling  assured  that  their  communication  will 
be  received  in  the  same  spirit,  and  that  the  President  will,  at 


132  FIRST    AMERICAN 


once,  give  such  directions  as  will  be  satisfactory  to  all  the  parties 
concerned.            Very  respectfully,  &c., 

THOMAS  CORWIN,  Ohio.  THOMAS  L.  HAMEK,  Ohio. 

JAMES  ALEXANER,  Jr.,  Ohio.  J.  RIDGEWAT,  Ohio. 

ALEXANDER  HARPER,  Ohio.  WM.  KEY  BOND,  Ohio. 

DANIEL  KILGOEE,  Ohio.  OALVAET  MORRIS,  Ohio. 

J.  W.  ALLEN,  Ohio.  D.  P.  LEADBETTER,  Ohio. 

WM.  H.  HTTXTKR,  Ohio.  P.  G.  GOODE,  Ohio. 

CHS.  D.  COFFIN,  Ohio.  8.  MASON,  Ohio. 

A.  W.  SNYDER,  Illinois.  THOMAS  MORRIS,  Ohio. 

WILLIAM  ALLEN,  Ohio.  O.  H.  SMITH,  Indiana. 

JOHN  TIPTON,  Indiana.  Lucius  LYON,  Michigan. 

JAMES  RARIDEN,  Indiana.  WILLIAM  HEROD,  Indiana. 

WILLIAM  GRAHAM,  Indiana.  E.  BOON,  Indiana. 

GEORGE  H.  DUNN,  Indiana.  ALBERT  S.  WHITE,  Indiana. 

WILLIAM  L.  MAY,  Illinois.  ZADOK  CASEY,  Illinois. 

JOHN  CHANBY,  Ohio.  J.  WEBSTER,  Ohio. 

E.  WHITTLESEY,  Ohio. 

WASHISGTOS,  May  1st,  1888. 


To  J.  N.  Reynolds,  Esq. 

Nmr  YORK,  Nov.  12«i,  183T. 

DEAR  SIR: — The  members  of  the  scientific  corps,  attached  to  the 
Southern  Exploring  Expedition,  have,  with  deep  regret,  understood 
that  you  entertain  some  idea  of  resigning  the  commission  by  which 
you  are,  at  present,  associated  with  us. 

Without  pausing  to  inquire  whether  the  position  in  which  you 
are  placed  by  that  document,  is  snch  a  one  as,  in  justice  to  your 
unwearied  exertions  for  the  success  of  this  great  national  enterprise, 
should  have  been  assigned  to  you,  we  would  earnestly  request  you 
to  reflect  farther  upon  the  subject  before  making  a  final  decision. 

That  you  would,  of  necessity,  occupy  a  prominent  station  in  the 
expedition,  has  so  long  been  considered  by  us,  in  common  with  the 
whole  country,  as  a  point  beyond  all  question,  the  present  contin 
gency  takes  us  wholly  by  surprise ;  and  we  have  heard,  with  not 
less  astonishment  than  grief,  that,  in  the  official  list  of  the  civilians 
connected  with  this  undertaking,  the  name  of  J.  N.  Reynolds  is  no 
where  to  be  found.  Upon  the  manifest  injustice  of  this  omission  no 
comments  are  requisite.  We  believe  that,  through  the  length  and 
breadth  of  our  land,  wherever  the  name  of  the  Exploring  Expedition 
has  been  mentioned,  every  wice  will  be  lifted  up  against  it.  Neither 
is  it  required  that  we  should  enter  into  a  detail  of  the  many  reasons 


EXPLORING   EXPEDITION.  133 

for  which  we  consider  your  accompanying  it  to  be  of  the  utmost 
importance  to  the  harmony  and  eventual  success  of  the  expedition. 
Permit  us,  however,  to  assure  you  that  such  is  our  conviction,  and 
to  express  our  sincere  hope  that  the  knowledge  of  this  fact  may 
induce  you  to  sacrifice  your  present  views  and  feelings  in  this  mat 
ter  to  the  wishes  of  the  corps,  and  to  consent  to  retain  a  position 
which,  however  it  may  fall  short  of  what  in  justice  should  be  yours, 
will  secure  to  us  your  co-operation  in  carrying  out,  successfully,  the 
great  objects  of  the  voyage.  Our  country,  never  forgetful  of  the 
claims  of  her  children,  will,  we  cannot  doubt,  in  the  end,  award  you 
all  that  is  so  justly  your  due,  however  it  may  ~be  attempted  to  deprive 
you  of  it  at  present.  Trusting  that  our  appeal,  therefore,  may  pro 
duce  the  desired  effect,  we  remain,  dear  sir,  with  the  highest  respect 
and  esteem,  Your  sincere  friends, 

ALFRED  T.  AGATE,  JAMES  EIGHTS, 

JOSEPH  P.  COUTHOUY,  HOEATIO  HALE, 

REYNELL  COATES,  RAPHAEL  HOYLE, 

JAMES  D.  DANA,  W.  R.  JOHNSON, 

ASA  GRAY,  CHAKLES  PICKERING, 

J.  W.  RANDALL,  J.  DRAYTON. 


The   Cincinnati  Republican  at  that  day,  made 
these  just  reflections  on  the  outrage  : 

This  appeal  or  remonstrance,  for  it  is  a  little  of  both,  was  sent 
to  the  President  early  in  May  last ;  but  its  publication  has  been 
withheld  until  the  present  moment,  in  the  hope  that  justice  would 
have  been  done  Mr.  Reynolds.  But  we  learn  that  it  is  determined 
that  Mr.  Reynolds  shall  not  accompany  the  expedition,  and  the 
communication,  though  signed  by  a  majority  of  the  delegates  in 
Congress  from  the  West,  who  are  friendly  to  the  administration, 
has  not  received  the  courtesy  of  a  notice  from  the  President. 

"When  we  take  into  consideration  the  uniform  support  the  expe 
dition  has  always  received  from  the  West,  and  especially  from  the 
Ohio  delegation,  who  took  an  interest  in  the  enterprise  from  the 
fact  that  it  had  been  originated  and  successfully  prosecuted  by  a 
native  of  Ohio,  the  conduct  of  the  executive  seems  almost  unac 
countable.  Here  are  the  wishes  of  the  almost  entire  delegation  of 
the  northwestern  states  strongly  and  manfully  expressed.  On  what 
ground  of  petty  jealousy  are  the  demands  of  this  letter  denied  ? 


134  FIRST   AMERICAN 

Was  it  to  gratify  a  secretary  notoriously  opposed  to  the  expedition 
from  the  moment  it  was  projected,  and  whose  ground  of  hostility  to 
Mr.  Reynolds  was  mainly  owing  to  the  fact  that  he  had  again  and 
again  defeated  him  before  Congress?  We  assign  no  other  reason 
for  the  conduct  of  the  President  in  this  case. 

Of  the  arrangements  which  have  given  dissatisfaction,  the  ap 
pointment  of  Lieutenant  Wilkes  to  the  command,  over  the  heads  of 
his  seniors  and  superiors  in  every  respect,  is  not  the  least  reprehen 
sible.  Why  was  he  selected  ?  Was  it  because  he  was  ready  to  do 
the  bidding  of  an  incompetent  secretary  ?  This  is  no  party  meas 
ure.  Strong  men  on  both  sides  have  been  and  are  its  supporters. 
The  country  at  large  bears  the  expense,  and  has  a  right  to  ask  why 
matters  have  been  thus  managed.  The  people  of  Ohio  have  a 
voice  in  the  matter,  and  a  right  to  inquire  if  injustice  has  been 
done  to  one  of  her  citizens — the,  author  of  the  measure — who  has, 
by  his  researches  and  publications,  fixed  milestones  and  guide- 
boards  for  those  to  carry  on  the  expedition  who  have  now  got  pos 
session  of  it,  without  the  magnanimity  to  do  justice  to  its  projector. 
The  conduct  of  the  managers  of  this  affair  towards  Mr.  Reynolds 
will  find  no  response  from  honorable  men.  They  may  do  him 
wrong,  but  cannot  put  him  down ;  for,  going  or  staying,  HIS  TRIUMPH 
HAS  BEEN  COMPLETE.  The  spirit  which  his  labors  has  awakened  will 
not  sleep  ;  for,  whatever  is  done  in  this  expedition,  or  by  others  which 
may  and  no  doubt  will  follow,  for  the  extension  and  security  of 
commerce  and  the  acquisition  of  scientific  knowledge,  the  country 
will  not  forget  to  whom  it  has  been  mainly  owing. 

Was  it  wonderful  that  this  bigoted  ignorance 
should  manifest  its  persecuting  spirit  towards  the 
individual  whom  it  could  not  equal  in  intellect, 
in  philanthropy,  or  moral  courage  ?  Was  it 
singular  that  the  true  significance  of  liberty  was 
unknown  to  them  ?  Was  it  strange,  that  an  in 
telligence  so  far  in  advance  of  them  should  have 
been  misunderstood,  and  misrepresented  ?  He 
who  is  the  mouthpiece  of  the  time,  generally  ob- 


EXPLORING  EXPEDITION.  135 

tains  greater  concessions  from  the  obtuse  and 
narrow-minded  ;  because  they  honor  that  heroism 
which  compliments  themselves ! 

Mr.  Reynolds  was  the  great  oracle  of  the 
future  !  And  it  needed  moral  heroism  to  place 
himself  in  the  advance  guard  of  a  great  national 
enterprise,  in  accordance  with  his  convictions  of 
patriotism  and  duty  !  Every  great  event  is  the 
beginning  of  a  new  epoch  in  the  history  of  hu 
manity,  and  he,  who  by  his  devotion  to  justice 
and  truth,  makes  his  country  wiser,  happier,  or 
better,  places  that  country  under  a  debt  of  grati 
tude  to  him  !  We  say,  therefore,  that  were  the 
magnitude  of  that  effort  on  the  part  of  this 
American,  fully  weighed  in  all  its  intellectual, 
moral,  social,  and  political  bearings,  on  the  future 
of  this  nation,  the  name  and  praise  of  its  author 
would  echo  not  only  from  every  city,  but  from 
every  hill  and  through  every  plain  in  our  coun 
try  !  For  what  but  this  feeling  warms  our  hearts 
towards  the  heroes  of  our  liberties,  who  sacrificed 
their  reputations,  their  treasure,  and  their  blood, 
to  serve  the  cause  which  so  preeminently  blesses 
us  ?  And  what  nobler  deed  can  man  perform  for 
his  country  and  his  race,  than  to  inspire  a  more 
exalted  intelligence,  and  develop  a  nobler  pro 
gressive  thought  ? 


136  FIRST   AMERICAN 

The  author,  as  we  have  seen,  was  not  permitted 
to  accompany  his  own  expedition,  but  his  triumph 
was  not  the  less  complete  !  Because  he  shed  an 
unfailing  lustre  on  his  country,  and  became 
thereby,  the  beacon  light  which  has  illumined  the 
dark  and  intricate  pathways  of  science  ever  since, 
and  elevated  our  state  of  national  progress  and 
intelligence ! 

All  subsequent  expeditions  and  voyages  of  dis 
covery  in  this  country  owe  their  origin  to  him 
who  made  their  "milestones  and  guide-boards!" 
To  the  men  of  science  who  accompanied  that 
great  enterprise,  honor  and  praise  are  both  due  ; 
and  despite  the  difficulties  and  embarrassing  sur 
roundings,  they  made  an  imperishable  record  of 
their  fidelity  to  their  high  trusts  ! 

Lynch's  exploration  of  the  Dead  Sea,  testifies 
the  value  of  the  First  American  Exploring  Ex 
pedition  !  Fremont's  courage  and  noble  daring 
in  California,  testify  it  ;  the  Arctic  Expedition 
of  Doctor  Kane,  testifies  it ;  and  the  American 
people,  by  one  consent,  ratify  and  endorse  its 
utility  and  greatness  to  our  common  country  ; 
while  the  limit  of  its  results  no  human  wisdom 
or  foresight  can  compute  ! 


ed  by  J  C.Buttre 


THE  PACIFIC  BAILKOAD. 


CHAPTER    I. 

THE  invention  of  printing,  in  1436,  prepared  the 
way  for  the  discovery  of  America  in  the  same  age, 
and  made  it  a  necessity.  Why  ?  Because  it  civ 
ilized  and  enlightened  men ;  and  when  this  was 
done  they  wanted  more  room ;  their  commerce 
wanted  more  field ;  their  kingdoms  wanted  more 
latitude  ;  their  navigation  more  scope ;  in  fine, 
every  faculty  of  man  expanded,  and  with  a  double 
energy  the  great  work  of  revolution  had  begun. 

To  obtain  control  over  the  commerce  of  the  East 
has  been  the  prize  for  which  the  ambition  of  na 
tions  had  contended  for  ages  ;  and  to  find  an  easier 
and  more  direct  route  to  India  was  the  cause  which 
moved  Columbus  to  set  out  on  the  discovery  of  a 
western  continent.  The  commerce  of  the  East 


138  THE   PACIFIC    RAILROAD. 

controlled  the  world.  Its  riches,  transported  o/er 
deserts  by  the  Arab,  furnished  London,  Lisbon, 
Amsterdam,  &c.,  with  their  opulence  and  grandeur. 
When  the  Turks  held  power  on  the  Bosphorus,  this 
wealth  went  to  Europe  and  Asia  through  the  Black 
Sea.  When  the  Venetians  wrested  that  power 
from  the  Turks,  the  Mediterranean  became  the 
channel  of  this  Eastern  commerce.  The  attractions 
of  the  gold  mines  of  Peru  and  Mexico,  the  wars  of 
the  Dutch,  French,  and  Danes,  did  not  divert 
public  desire  for  a  direct  route  from  Europe  to 
Asia,  until  England  conquered  and  established  her 
empire  in  India  over  one  hundred  and  fifty  millions 
of  people.  The  French  explorers  sought  this  line 
in  vain ;  and  Lewis  and  Clark,  under  President 
Jefferson,  of  our  own  country,  met  with  no  better 
success.  At  last,  however,  the  difficulty  is  solved  ! 
A  railroad  through  this  continent  is  the  power 
which  is  to  control  the  commerce  of  the  world  ; 
and  the  United  States  alone  affords  such  a  route. 
The  Pacific  Ocean  is  then  to  be  the  centre  of  com 
merce  for  the  world,  and  our  country  thus  becomes 
the  centre  of  civilization. 

The  moment  this  road  is  built,  Asia,  with  its 
five  hundred  millions;  Europe,  with  its  two  hun- 


THE  PACIFIC   RAILROAD.  139 

dred  and  fifty  millions ;  Africa,  and  all  the  islands 
of  the  ocean  on  either  side,  will  seek  this  transit 
for  their  commerce.  To  go  to  India  now,  from  the 
United  States,  is  an  undertaking  which  involves 
the  risk  of  health  and  life,  a  voyage  of  five 
months,  and  of  twice  crossing  the  equator.  With 
the  railroad,  twenty  days  would  be  the  maximum 
time  for  penetrating  the  heart  of  India  from  the 
city  of  New  York.  There,  we  then  shall  ex 
change  our  products  and  spend  our  surplus  in  the 
riches  of  the  East. 

The  trade  of  the  East  with  Europe  now  is  an 
nually  near  four  hundred  millions,  requiring  three 
thousand  vessels.  With  our  railroad,  the  cost  and 
time  would  be  so  reduced  that  it  is  fair  to  believe 
this  commerce  would  be  increased  to  seven  or 
eight  hundred  millions.  American  vessels  and 
American  seamen  will  then  go  into  the  ports  of 
Japan,  now  opened  to  us,  and  return  freighted  with 
the  products  of  China  and  India. 

With  Asia  on  one  side  and  Europe  on  the  othe 
and  our  steam  and  sailing  vessels  at  command, 
there  can  never  be  any  competition  while  the  na 
tion  endures. 

The   energy  of  the  Anglo-Saxon   has  already 


140  THE   PACIFIC    RAILROAD. 

demonstrated  a  power  which  challenges  the  admi 
ration  of  mankind.  It  has  been  by  the  Anglo- 
American  that  the  oceanic  currents  have  been 
defined,  and  the  Gulf- Stream  pointed  out  to  navi 
gators  all  over  the  world.  It  was  by  the  Anglo- 
American  that  the  Dead  Sea  was  explored.  The 
Anglo-American  opened  by  treaty  the  ports  of 
Japan,  after  being  so  long  closed  to  all  but  the 
Dutch  and  Chinese.  Americans  have  proved  the 
existence  of  an  open  Polar  Sea,  and  braved  the 
perils  of  the  Arctic  Ocean  for  Sir  John  Franklin. 
What  have  they  done  within  their  own  borders  ? 
They  have  taken  the  Mississippi  valley,  a  wilder 
ness  thirty-five  years  ago,  and  settled  it  with  up 
wards  of  twelve  millions  of  souls.  Twenty  years 
ago,  where  not  seven  thousand  people  dwelt,  north 
and  north-west  of  Chicago,  they  have  put  upwards 
of  a  million  The  queen  city  of  the  West,  Cin 
cinnati,  which  contains  one  hundred  and  sixty  thou 
sand  people,  only  dug  its  cellars  a  few  years  ago. 
In  1820,  the  first  line  of  packet-ships  sailed 
from  the  United  States  to  Liverpool,  and  prudent 
men  predicted  them  a  failure.  In  1835,  the 
learned  Dr.  Lardner  declared  the  navigation  of  the 
ocean  by  steam  to  to  be  impracticable.  Three 


THE   PACIFIC    RAILROAD.  141 

years  after  which,  the  Great  Western  and  Sirius 
steamers  came  into  the  port  of  New  York. 

The  first  proposal  for  a  railroad  from  Boston  to 
Hudson  was  made  thirty  years  ago,  and  pronounced 
an  absurdity.  Now  we  have,  at  least,  twenty  thou 
sand  miles  of  railway  constructed  in  the  United 
States,  involving  a  capital  of  more  than  jive  hun 
dred  millions  of  dollars.  In  1808,  the  general 
government  refused  assistance  to  the  Hudson  and 
Erie  Canal,  after  New  York  had  appropriated  six 
hundred  dollars  for  a  survey.  Mr.  Jefferson,  then 
president,  said,  it  "might  be  feasible  one  hundred 
years  to  come" ! 

The  first  American  who  is  known  to  have  con 
ceived  the  idea  of  railroads  by  steam  was  Oliver 
Evans,  of  Pennsylvania,  who  made  known  his  plan 
in  1781  and  1789,  after  the  adoption  of  the  con 
stitution. 

Joel  Barlow,  in  his  "Visions  of  Columbus,"  in 
1787,  predicted  the  Erie  Canal  in  New  York, 
thirty  years  before  it  was  begun,  under  De  Witt 
Clinton,  in  1817.  At  that  time,  political  parties 
took  ground  against  it ;  but  the  energies  of  Gov. 
Clinton  prosecuted  it  to  success.  In  ten  years  it 
had  paid  the  cost  of  completion,  while  its  present 


142  THE  PACIFIC    RAILROAD. 

annual  receipts  are  half  its  original  cost.  Towns 
and  villages  immediately  rose  up  by  the  Wabash 
and  Erie  Canal  in  like  manner,  and  as  railroads  got 
on  the  line  the  banks  of  every  navigable  stream 
were  covered  by  a  population  devoted  to  commer 
cial  enterprise. 

The  inhabitants  of  Portland,  Maine,  have  em 
barked  in  the  enterprise  of  building  a  railroad  from 
there  to  Nova  Scotia,  which  is  now  completed,  and 
reduces  the  voyage  of  Europe  to  America  two 
thousand  miles.  It  is  three  thousand  from  New 
York  to  Liverpool.  This  effort  found  favor  with 
European  as  well  as  American  capitalists,  and  will 
tend  rapidly  to  commercial  prosperity 

When  we  consider  that  England,  to  save  a  dis 
tance  of  only  twelve  miles  between  London  and 
Dublin,  built  a  bridge  across  the  Straits  of  Menai 
at  a  cost  of  twelve  millions  of  money,  we  can 
better  understand  the  economy  of  expending  money 
to  shorten  our  route  eleven  thousand  miles  to 
Europe. 

Everything,  therefore,  demands,  on  the  same 
principle,  that  the  Pacific  Railroad  should  be  made 
to  shorten  and  cheapen  the  transit  route  for  the 
commerce  of  Europe  and  Asia,  which  we  shall 


THE   PACIFIC    RAILROAD.  143 

certainly  command.  Consider,  Americans,  how  in 
a  few  years  we  have  spread  from  a  fragment  to  a 
continent !  We  have  only  one  sixth  less  of  terri 
tory  than  the  fifty-nine  states  of  Europe  put 
together.  We  are  ten  times  larger  than  Great 
Britain  and  France.  We  are  one  and  a  half  times 
larger  than  Russia  in  Europe.  And,  when  the 
Atlantic  and  Pacific  states  shall  be  united  by  the 
railroad,  it  is  impossible  to  realize  how  vast  and 
how  grand  the  results  will  be  to  us. 

In  a  philanthropic  view,  it  is  incomparable  with 
any  war,  or  revolution,  or  discovery,  save  that  of 
our  beloved  country,  and  the  national  freedom  se 
cured  by  our  Republican  institutions.  The  railroad 
will  at  once  become  the  strongest  fortification  for 
the  country,  and  moving  batteries  of  men  would  be 
its  defence  in  time  of  war.  The  passive  intellects 
of  the  East  will  soon  feel  the  attrition  of  Ameri 
can  energy  and  enterprise ;  the  population  that 
flows  in  from  the  Old  World  will  thus  be  Ameri 
canized  ;  and  Protestant  education,  which  is  as  the 
brain  to  the  body  of  our  institutions,  will  build  up 
the  American  systems  of  free  schools,  which  are  the 
essential  element  of  our  liberties. 

Liberty  has    expanded  our    resources   on    the 


144  THE  PACIFIC    RAILROAD. 

*-r-o 

Atlantic,  and  will,  in  the  same  way,  advance  them 
on  the  Pacific,  until  the  islands  of  the  ocean,  and 
the  shores  of  Asia,  shall  feel  the  benign  influence 
of  American  commerce  and  American  laws.  The 
West,  then,  demands  the  Pacific  Railroad,  to  add  to 
the  prosperity  of  the  country,  to  open  new  outlets 
for  the  distribution  of  commerce,  and  new  sources 
for  our  national  wealth  and  enterprise.  Americans, 
it  is  the  navigable  rivers  on  the  Atlantic  which 
have  populated  your  states.  This  made  it  easy  to 
receive  and  send  off  the  products  of  the  land,  and 
sent  settlers  first  upon  the  water-courses.  As  these 
became  populous,  the  settlers  on  them  drove  back 
into  the  interior  the  succeeding  emigrants.  The 
valley  of  the  Mississippi  was  thus  peopled.  So  the 
borders  of  the  Hudson,  Connecticut,  and  Penobscot 
Rivers,  and  Narragansett  Bay.  At  the  beginning 
there  were  no  interior  communications  to  protect 
the  settlements  on  the  rivers,  and  hence  they  were 
not  populated  so  rapidly  as  the  Mississippi  valley. 
Steamers  were  coeval  with  that  settlement,  and  this 
has  caused  its  rapid  increase  of  population. 

During  the  early  peopling  of  the  country,  and 
before  the  introduction  of  steam  navigation,  pack- 
horses  were  used  to  carry  goods ;  but  the  danger  and 


THE   PACIFIC    RAILROAD.  145 

expense  rendered  this  mode  of  trade  exceedingly 
limited.  The  usual  time,  then,  was  six  months  to 
make  a  journey  from  New  Orleans  to  St.  Louis  by 
water,  which  is  now  performed  in  eight  or  twelve 
days.  It  was  the  steamboat,  and  that  alone,  which 
opened  the  commerce  of  the  Mississippi  valley. 
Corn,  wheat,  iron,  hemp,  coal,  would  all  have  been 
comparatively  useless  without  this  mode  of  trans 
portation. 

You  see  now,  Americans,  how  and  why  the 
valleys  and  rivers  of  the  Mississippi  were  penetrated. 
On  the  coast  of  the  Pacific  the  case  is  altogether 
different.  The  states  and  territories  we  own  there 
never  can  be  settled  as  the  Atlantic  states  have  been. 
Why?  Because  neither  steamers  nor  sail-boats 
can  penetrate  them.  A  land  route  is  the  only  way 
this  ever  can  be  accomplished.  But  will  an  ordi 
nary  road  do  it  ?  No,  it  could  never  be  made  to 
pay  expenses  of  transportation.  People  would 
therefore  refuse  to  dwell  there,  while  they  could 
seek  the  water-courses  of  the  Atlantic  and  Pacific 
for  settlement.  The  cause  why  individual  enter 
prise  entered  into  our  favorite  valleys,  and  occupied 
them,  and  gijew  wealthy,was  owing  to  their  access  to 
7 


146  THE   PACIFIC    RAILROAD. 

the  sea,  and  other  navigable  waters,  which  pene 
trated  the  interior  country. 

Now,  what  has  been  done  for  the  Atlantic  states 
by  steamboats  must  be  done  for  the  Pacific  states  by 
railroad.  And  let  us  be  assured  of  one  thing,  that, 
with  a  railroad  across  the  continent,  the  Yalue  of 
the  whole  country  would  be  increased  incalculably 
beyond  what  all  our  rivers  have  done,  or  possibly 
can  do.  No  other  inducement  ever  will  carry  set 
tlers  to  the  interior  countries  of  the  Pacific  states. 
But,  with  a  railroad,  they  would  soon  convert  that 
whole  country  to  a  flower-garden.  The  entire  year, 
at  all  seasons,  would  be  open  to  the  markets.  The 
energy  and  enterprise  of  the  settlers  would  increase 
with  the  means  of  transit  at  hand.  The  ice  in  the 
Atlantic  states,  in  the  cold  season,  has  always  been 

a  bar  to  industry  ;  but  this  would  no  longer  inter- 

•/  ' 

fere  with  progress. 

The  Pacific  Railroad  will,  of  necessity,  do  all  the 
business  of  the  waters  in  those  territories  ;  the 
Hudson,  the  Ohio,  and  Mississippi,  would  pour  their 
commerce  into  that  railroad  passage.  Thus  this 
thoroughfare  will  extend  our  commerce  and  spread 
our  popiilation  on  the  Pacific,  as  the  steamboat 


THE  PACIFIC    RAILROAD.  147 

navigation  has  spread  the  plains  of  the  Mississippi 
and  Missouri  Rivers. 

Look  at  California  and  Oregon,  how  within  three 
years  and  a  half  they  have  gathered  a  population 
of  at  least  a  half  a  million  !  What  has  done  this  ? 
The  gold  mines  alone.  If,  then,  with  a  land  journey 
of  three  or  four  months,  and  a  costly  sea  voyage  of 
thirty  or  forty  days,  population  has  thus  accumu 
lated,  what  may  be  expected  when  the  railroad  shall 
have  reduced  the  distance  from  San  Francisco  to 
Washington  city  to  seven  days,  and  the  telegraph 
has  brought  us  into  communication  in  one  single 
day  ?  For  such  will  actually  be  the  case. 


CHAPTER    II. 

AMERICANS,  what  has  been  the  consequence  of 
legislating  for  the  states  of  the  Pacific  already, 
which  cannot  be  reached  under  a  six  weeks'  travel  ? 
Let  the  Indian  massacres,  and  those  of  Panama, 
the  dangers  and  sufferings  of  immigrants,  the  black 
catalogue  of  crime  which  has  made  almost  a  Sodom 
of  California,  the  utter  perversion  of  the  rights  of 
suffrage  by  the  ballot-box,  answer.  The  disorders 
which  have  been  created  there,  the  villanous  prac 
tices  of  stuffing  the  ballot-box,  the  elevation  of  the 
scum  of  society  and  traitors  to  office,  —  all  these, 
and  other  shocking  spectacles,  which,  as  a  necessity, 
caused  the  Vigilance  Committee  to  be  appointed  by 
the  people  for  their  own  protection  and  safety 
against  these  ruffians  and  murderers,  are  greatly 
owing  to  their  isolated  condition. 

For  these  causes,  a  separate  republic  on  the 
Pacific  must  ever  suffer  the  most  serious  dangers, 
and  especially  if  there  should  be  cause  for  for 
eign  invasion.  Nsthing  will  remedy  these  evils  in 


s  .        THE   PACIFIC    RAILROAD.  149 

due  season  but  the  establishment  of  a  railroad  to 
the  Pacific.  This  would  at  once  rectify  all  the 
present  difficulties,  and  regenerate  the  condition  of 
the  people. 

The  idea  of  a  Southern  republic  may  at  first 
seem  absurd.  But  would  the  united  interest  of 
Lower  California,  the  western  coast  of  Mexico,  a 
part  of  the  British  possessions  opposite  Vancouver's 
and  Charlotte's  Island,  and  removed  from  the  evils 
of  a  French  population,  be  of  no  account,  joined 
to  California?  Would  not  the  commerce  and  the 
gold,  and  its  free  soil,  interfere  with  the  harmony 
of  the  Southern  States  of  this  Union  ?  Most  un 
doubtedly.  Why  not,  then,  settle  the  question,  not 
for  a  time,  but  forever,  by  putting  a  railway,  that 
shall  bind  with  a  cord  of  iron  the  states  of  the 
Pacific  and  Atlantic  ? 

Independent  of  the  trade  of  the  United  States 
and  Canada,  this  road  would  be  the  great  forwarder 
of  the  staples  of  China  and  the  East  Indies.  The 
reason  is,  that  it  would  be  the  shortest,  quickest, 
and  least  expensive  route.  The  passage  by  this 
land  route  can  be  effected  from  three  to  five  miles 
per  hour  quicker  than  by  any  sea  or  water  route 
that  could  possibly  be  devised. 


150  THE  PACIFIC   RAILROAD. 

No  one  can  compute  the  extent  of  trade  from  a 
railroad  across  the  continent,  connecting  the  Colum 
bia  and  San  Francisco  Rivers  with  New  York, 
China,  Japan,  Oregon,  Australia,  the  Sandwich 
Islands,  California,  the  seaports  of  Europe,  United 
States,  and  Canada.  Americans,  these  would  all 
commercially  centre  on  this  road.  The  distance 
from  New  York  to  California  is  thirty-two  hundred 
miles.  Allowing  the  usual  rates  of  railroad  travel, 
with  time  to  eat  and  to  rest  on  the  journey,  it  will 
require  seven  days.  If  itt  an  emergency,  and  the 
usual  delays  were  abandoned,  the  travel  could  be 
made  with  ease  in  four  and  a  half  days,  at  thirty 
miles  an  hour ! 

Until  gold  settled  California,  the  merchants  of 
our  country  had  but  a  limited  knowledge  of  the 
trade  on  the  western  coast  of  the  Pacific,  to  China, 
Japan,  and  India.  Consequently,  it  was  the  local 
traffic  of  California,  Oregon,  and  Australia,  that 
opened  to  view  the  fact  that  the  commercial  capa 
bilities  of  the  Pacific  are  really  greater  than  the 
Atlantic.  The  tea-  trade  and  sperm  whale  are 
confined  to  the  Pacific ;  white  the  great  staples, 
sugar,  tobacco,  wheat,  and  corn,  grow  as  well  on 
the  Pacific  as  on  the  Atlantic. 


THE  PACIFIC    RAILROAD.  151 

The  Sandwich,  Society,  New  Hebrides,  Friendly, 
New  Britain,  Philippine,  and  Ladrone  Islands,  are 
all  accessible,  by  steamboats,  from  California ;  and 
all  their  products,  therefore,  would  be  turned  to 
use,  if  the  railroad  were  there.  China  will  unlock 
her  doors  as  never  before  when  this  temptation  to 
extend  her  commerce  is  presented.  Australia  will 
reap  the  benefit ;  while  California,  the  great  out 
post  of  the  Pacific,  will  not  pause  in  the  opportu 
nity  to  show  the  world,  and  especially  this  beloved 
people,  what  industry  will  accomplish,  in  connection 
with  gold,  in  which  resource  she  is  now  only  second 
to  Great  Britain. 

How  has  England  obtained  ascendency  over  the 
commerce  of  the  world  ?  By  making  it  free. 
England,  Holland,  and  the  United  States,  which 
compose  three  fourths  of  the  foreign  commerce, 
acknowledge  entire  freedom  in  every  commercial 
pursuit ;  and,  now  that  we  have  entered  the  Pacific 
by  right  and  title,  with  our  steamships  and  our 
experience,  what  shall  prevent  us  from  acquiring  a 
commercial  ascendency  over  England,  Holland,  and 
the  world  ?  We  ask  you,  Americans,  if  anything 
shall  do  it  ?  You  say,  No.  Then  get  about  your 
railroad,  and  you  may  say  this  in  earnest. 


152  THE  PACIFIC    RAILROAD. 

By  the  improvement  in  steam  and  ship-building, 
our  mariners  perform  the  same  voyage  to-day  in 
half  the  time  they  did  fifty  years  ago.  We  have 
already  made  railroads  on  the  two  continents,  and 
we  are  altogether  a  changed  people  since  1800. 
For  twenty-five  years  after  that,  our  commerce  had 
no  facility  from  steamboats  or  railways ;  and  it  has 
been  but  twenty  years  since  we  began  to  realize 
their  full  value.  All  the  sources  of  commerce  then 
were  those  tributary  to  the  seaboard,  while  the 
wealth  of  the  country  was  kept,  from  want  of  com 
munication,  beyond  their  reach.  We  had  not  then, 
either,  the  men  of  method  and  mind  equal  to  the 
emergencies  of  trade,  as  we  have  now.  We  had 
not  a  monied  capital  then,  as  now,  opened  to  all. 
When  we  compare  ourselves  with  the  past,  and  see 
what  new  facilities  of  greatness  the  nation  has 
found  out,  we  should  be  grateful,  elated  with  our 
destiny,  and  ready  for  action. 

And  if,  with  our  small  means,  we  have  attained 
such  development  on  our  Atlantic  borders,  what, 
with  our  ships,  our  steamboats,  our  capital,  our 
experience,  and  our  railroad,  are  we  not  destined 
to  accomplish  on  the  Pacific  shores  ?  The  railroad 
will  open  new  strength,  and  new  channels  of 


THE   PACIFIC    RAILROAD.  153 

thought,  as  well  as  action.  It  will  make  our  coun 
try  the  agent  and  carrier  of  the  commerce  of  the 
world ;  and  it  becomes  all  classes  of  our  country 
—  all  who  regard  its  prosperity,  all  who  regard  the 
benefit  to  their  children  and  their  children's  chil 
dren — to  rally  to  the  railroad  as  the  great  highway 
of  our  national  prosperity  and  greatness. 

While  men  are  quibbling  and  blundering  about 
the  best  route,  Nicaragua  might  make  a  canal  or 
railroad,  and  establish  trading  settlements,  which 
would  materially  interfere  with  our  prospects. 
Every  day  gives  greater  importance  to  the  political, 
commercial,  geographical,  moral,  and  social  reasons 
which  show  that  we  are  risking  much,  losing  much, 
by  the  delay. 

The  Atlantic  was  always  more  formidable  to  ex 
plorers  than  the  Pacific  ;  consequently  the  East,  in 
the  early  ages,  was  more  rapidly  populated  than  the 
West.  The  oceans,  we  must  remember,  were  as 
much  ours  by  right,  before  we  had  a  sail  or  harbor 
on  our  coast,  as  now.  The  Pacific  territory  was 
acquired  by  us  through  the  Mexican  war.  It  was 
purchased  then  by  the  sweat  and  blood  of  American 
men.  It  has  been  the  means  of  increasing  our  com 
mercial  wealth  and  greatness.  To  occupy  and  enjoy 


154  THE   PACIFIC    RAILROAD. 

this,  the  railroad  has  been  projected  by  the  wisdom 
of  men  who,  from  the  beginning,  have  seen  that 
this  territory,  obtained  at  so  dear  a  cost  to  the 
United  States,  must  either  be  made  subservient  to 
the  interests  of  the  whole  country,  or  be  wrested 
from  us  for  a  new  republic. 

It  cost  just  twenty  thousand  dollars  to  discover 
America  ;  and  for  this  small  sum  the  Queen  of  Spain 
had  to  pledge  her  jewels,  so  great  were  the  financial 
embarrassments  of  the  government  from  the  Moorish 
wars.  It  is  true,  Columbus  never  saw  the  United 
States  in  its  present  limits ;  but  he  was  at  Cuba, 
five  degrees  from  Florida.  Henry  of  England  took 
six  years  to  determine  the  proposal  which  Columbus 
made  him  for  aid  in  this  same  discovery. 

How  incapable  was  the  human  mind  at  that  period 
to  comprehend  the  advantage  of  spending  twenty 
thousand  dollars,  to  see  if  there  was  any  such  place 
at  all  as  this  New  World  of  ours  !  Just  as  incredu 
lous  are  many  to  the  prospective  results  of  the 
Pacific  Railroad.  Yes,  with  all  the  light  and  knowl 
edge,  and  the  mathematical  demonstrations  of  its 
effects  upon  our  national  destiny,  the  timid  and 
circumscribed  intellect  is  as  hard  to  convince  as  the 
child  is  that  there  is  not  a  man  in  the  moon. 


THE   PACIFIC    RAILROAD.  155 

When  America  was  discovered,  England  had  not 
a  greater  population  than  we  had  when  we  declared 
independence.  Printing  had  been  but  twenty-one 
years  in  use ;  the  English  language  had  not  been 
spoken  a  century ;  there  were  but  four  merchant 
ships  belonging  to  London,  and  the  people  were  op 
posed  to  trade.  Two  centuries  elapsed,  after  that, 
before  England  had  dug  a  canal.  Manufactures 
were  almost  unknown ;  and  it  was  upwards  of  a 
century  after  the  discovery  of  America  before  Eng 
land  built  her  first  stage-coach. 

And  now,  with  a  railroad  access  to  the  entire  con 
tinent,  the  blessing  of  our  unequalled  government 
and  wise  and  wholesome  laws  will  make  us  felt  and 
propitiated  by  the  entire  world.  What  makes  Eng 
land  the  first  commercial  power  in  the  world,  but  the 
control  she  has  over  the  markets  of  Asia  and  the 
continent  of  Europe  ?  The  possession  of  California 
has  now  added  to  the  national  wealth  of  America, 
by  opening  to  us  the  same  commerce  of  Asia. 

Central  as  the  United  States  are  between  the  two 
continents  of  Europe  and  Asia,  and  producing  the 
two  great  staples  of  tobacco  and  cotton,  we  need  but 
a  highway  of  steam  from  the  Atlantic  to  the  Pacific, 
and  mail  steamers  from  California  to  China,  to  over- 


156  THE   PACIFIC    RAILROAD. 

step  England,  and  claim  supremacy  in  commerce  to 
her.  Why  has  England,  thus  far,  made  us  depend 
ent  upon  her  for  commercial  news  ?  Because  she 
-has  an  overland  route,  which  secures  her  mail  facili 
ties.  The  mails  are  taken  from  London  to  Canton, 
and  vice  versa,  in  sixty-five  days  ;  to  us,  in  seventy- 
seven  days.  If  we  construct  a  railroad,  now,  to 
the  Pacific,  and  connect  California  with  China  by 
mail  steamers,  the  whole  distance  from  New  York 
to  China  will  be  accomplished  in  the  incredibly  short 
time  of  twenty-four  days.  England  then  would  be 
come  dependent  upon  the  United  States,  not  only 
for  mail  facilities,  but  for  the  products  of  Asia, 
which  would  be  made  available  through  us. 

England,  by  her  Cape  of  Good  Hope  and  overland 
routes,  has  obtained  a  monopoly  over  the  East  India 
trade  and  that  of  China.  The  government  of  the 
East  Indies  forces  opium  to  be  introduced,  which  is 
the  important  drug  for  the  Chinese  markets.  The 
sale  of  opium  amounts  to  thirty  millions  annually. 
Besides,  the  cotton  and  other  fabrics  which  England 
sends  to  China  bring  back  to  Great  Britain  annu 
ally  twenty  millions  of  dollars.  Nothing  but  the 
American  trade  has  saved  China  from  being  ex 
hausted  in  money.  "We  deal  with  China  to  about 


THE   PACIFIC    RAILROAD.  157 

half  the  amount  of  England ;  for  which  we  send 
specie,  or  bills  drawn  to  our  account,  payable  in 
London.  Now,  it  needs  but  for  us  to  establish  more 
rapid  communications,  to  enjoy  all  the  advantages 
England  now  possesses.  Our  central  position  gives 
this  natural  facility.  We  have  but  to  use  the  appli 
ances  of  science  and  art  which  God  has  given  us  the 
intelligence  to  appreciate,  to  take  the  commercial 
balance  into  our  own  hands. 

It  is  now  reduced  to  a  moral  certainty  that  cotton 
cannot  be  grown  to  any  extent  in  any  soil  yet  found 
out  but  that  of  the  United  States.  It  is,  therefore, 
the  first  staple  of  our  trade.  Tobacco  is  next  in  im 
portance,  as  such.  Its  use  is  now  becoming  general 
throughout  Europe  and  in  some  parts  of  Asia.  It 
is  only  kept  from  China  by  England,  who  forces 
opium  upon  her  people,  and  makes  the  difficulty  of 
obtaining  tobacco  from  us.  We  alone  might  substi 
tute  tobacco  for  opium,  and  thus  rescue  a  people 
perishing  so  rapidly  from  the  use  of  that  poisonous 
drug  ;  the  Chinese  greatly  preferring  tobacco,  but 
the  English,  jealous  of  our  staple,  take  care  to 
throw  every  obstacle  in  the  way  of  its  introduction, 
well  knowing  that  it  would  entirely  supersede  the 
use  of  the  deadly  narcotic  in  which  they  are  so 


158  THE   PACIFIC    RAILROAD. 

deeply  interested.  We  might  receive,  in  return  for 
our  tobacco  and  cotton,  the  amount  in  tea  and  silk, 
for  which  we  now  pay  twenty-five  millions  annually. 

Look  at  the  true  state  of  the  case.  England  has 
to  buy  of  us  the  raw  material,  out  of  which  she 
fabricates  the  basis  of  her  foreign  trade.  She  gets 
our  wool  and  cotton,  and  makes  muslins,  cottons, 
calicoes,  handkerchiefs,  and  cotton  yarn,  of  our  cot 
ton,  and  broadcloth,  cassimeres,  blankets,  camlets, 
of  our  wool.  We  also  make  the  same  articles. 
Both  export  to  China  ;  yet  we  find,  by  a  compari 
son  of  one  year,  that  ours  reach  scarcely  one  twen 
tieth  part  of  England's,  for  the  reason  given,  —  that 
she  commands  the  market  by  her  mail  facilities  of 
communication. 

Take  the  trade  in  tea,  and  compare  our  commerce 
and  England's  with  China,  in  the  sixty  years  from 
the  time  we  began  to  trade  with  China  in  that  arti 
cle,  and  look  at  it.  The  first  voyage  of  commerce 
from  the  United  States  to  China  was  in  1785  ;  but 
the  trade  was  not  really  opened  until  1792.  It  has 
so  increased  that  now  our  importation  of  tea  amounts 
to  sixteen  millions  of  dollars  annually.  From  the 
beginning  of  our  trade  with  China,  we  have  im 
ported  from  that  country  to  the  value  of  upwards 


THE  PACIFIC    RAILROAD.  159 

of  two  hundred  and  fifty-eight  millions  of  dollars,, 
while  our  exports  have  amounted  to  only  a  little  over 
eighty-six  millions.  Thus  we  have  paid  China  in 
precious  metals  upwards  of  one  hundred  and 
seventy-two  millions  of  dollars  ! 

From  1792,  when  our  trade  began  with  China, 
to  1827,  silver  to  the  amount  of  eighty- eight  mil 
lions  and  upwards  had  been  shipped  direct  from 
the  United  States  to  China.  In  1827,  China, 
owing  to  the  opium  trade,  had  become  indebted  to 
England  very  largely,  and  American  bills,  payable 
in  England,  began  to  be  used  in  lieu  of  coin  ;  and 
from  1834,  these  American  bills  on  Chinese  accounts 
amounted  to  about  sixteen  and  a  half  millions, 
while  the  specie  in  that  time  sent  from  England 
was  only  between  seven  and  eight  millions  ! 

So,  since  1834,  England  has  been  steadily  drain 
ing  our  coin  to  the  amount  of  seventy-five  millions 
seven  hundred  and  fifty-seven  thousand  seven  hun 
dred  and  ninety-seven  dollars,  and  settling  with 
China  by  bills  of  credit,  for  which  we  have  to  pay 
specie  to  her. 


CHAPTEK     III. 

Now,  this  drain  of  England  upon  us  is  prepos 
terous.  Our  own  products  are  sufficient  to  pay  for 
all  we  get  from  China  ;  and  it  is  our  products 
which  pay  a  premium  to  the  labor  of  England,  and 
cause  a  loss  to  our  manufacturers  and  mechanics. 
It  is  the  increase  of  our  products  by  the  art  and  value 
of  British  labor  which  actually  pays  for  nearly  the 
whole  of  the  teas  and  raw  silk  England  imports 
from  China. 

There  are  other  advantages  connected  with  the 
steamers  to  transpose  the  mart  from  China  to  the 
Pacific,  meeting  the  railroad  at  that  terminus. 
These  steamers  can  be  so  constructed  as  to  supersede 
the  government  force  needed  there,  and  save  the 
treasury  annually  one  million  and  a  quarter  of 
dollars.  The  extensive  and  unprotected  coasts  of 
California  and  Oregon  render  them  liable  to  foreign 
aggression,  and  demand,  in  this  point  of  view,  the 
serious  consideration  of  the  people.  Before  the 


THE   PACIFIC    RAILROAD.  161 

acquisition  of  California  we  had  two  hundred  ves 
sels  employed  in  trade  in  the  Pacific.  Since  then, 
there  are,  at  least,  six  hundred  and  fifty  American 
trading  vessels.  The  amount  of  our  property  ex 
posed  there  on  the  coast  is  nearly  seventy  millions. 
The  whaling  business  alone  is  valued  at  thirty 
millions,  with  an  employed  force  of  eighteen  thou 
sand  men  in  the  North  Pacific  ;  and  our  annual 
revenue  is  estimated  at  ten  millions. 

Our  acquisition  on  the  Pacific  at  once  inaugu 
rated  a  new  era  in  the  industry,  energy,  and  enter 
prise,  of  the  American  people.  It  was  their  volun 
tary  labor  which  levelled  mountains,  felled  forests, 
and  swept  the  plains  with  a  torrent  of  emigration, 
in  the  valley  of  the  St.  Lawrence,  and  the  basin  of 
our  lakes.  And  when  the  facilities  of  moving 
whole  bodies  of  men  are  given  to  the  people  by 
the  railroad,  and  time  and  space  at  once  annihilated, 
the  pulpit,  the  press,  and  institutions  for  education, 
will  multiply,  and  thus  expand  and  strengthen  the 
bonds  of  our  liberties. 

The  geographical,  physical,  and  moral  power  of 
the  United  States  constitute  the  basis  of  their 
greatness.  Great  Britain  has  thirty-four  thousand 
square  miles  ;  Austria,  Hungary,  and  Italy,  three 


162  THE   PACIFIC    RAILROAD. 

hundred  thousand  ;  France,  less  than  two  hundred 
thousand  ;  we,  Americans,  over  three  and  a  half 
millions !  Geographically,  Russia  compares  as 
one  to  one  hundred  and  twenty ;  Austria,  as  one  to 
nine  ;  France,  as  one  to  five  and  a  half ;  United 
States,  as  one  to  ninety-six  !  While  we  have  there 
fore  a  field  to  display  our  enterprise,  all  we  want 
is  avenues  to  exert  it  in  its  full  vigor. 

This  railway  will  save  ten  or  twelve  days  over 
the  Panama  route.  It  will  transfer  the  capital  of 
Europe  to  us,  which  is  now  used  in  monopolizing 
the  trade  of  Asia.  It  will  give  to  Americans  the 
key  of  the  West,  and  fix  forever  the  channel  of 
Asiatic  commerce  (which  for  centuries  has  been 
oscillating)  upon  the  best,  safest,  and  quickest 
route  of  transit  through  the  heart  of  this  nation. 
Safety,  security,  protection,  advancement,  all  require 
the  construction  of  this  Pacific  Railroad.  The  gold 
of  California  has  now  become  the  essential  stimu 
lant  to  all  the  industrial  pursuits  of  the  country. 
The  destruction  of  the  monthly  shipment  to  New 
York  would  send  a  shiver  through  all  the  commerce, 
finance,  and  industry,  of  this  country,  that  would 
be  incredibly  severe,  in  a  single  week. 

Now,   consider  how  easy  foreign   cruisers   and 


THE  PACIFIC    RAILROAD.  163 

privateers  could  cut  us  off  from  this  receipt  of  the 
essential  element  of  our  national  vitality !  The 
gold  now  comes  to  us  over  foreign  seas,  through 
foreign  territory,  and  over  a  circuit  of  six  thousand 
miles.  In  the  event  of  war,  whole  fleets  would 
interpose  to  take  from  us  this  arm  of  our  strength. 
Ships,  and  troops,  and  missions,  are  now  necessary 
to  protect  our  national  interest,  and  protect  our 
commerce  on  the  Pacific  ;  the  railway  Would  then 
protect  us,  and  save  all  our  commerce  and  territory 
from  foreign  aggression. 

Throughout  the  world's  history,  nations  have 
been  elevated  or  depressed  as  they  advanced  or 
lost  commerce ;  and  the  changes  for  three  thou 
sand  years  in  Asiatic  commerce  have  settled  the 
question,  that  the  ocean  is  the  obstacle  to  foreign 
trade.  Land  now  has  been  found  the  facility,  and 
the  steam- car  the  only  sure  means  to  keep  up  dis 
tant  communications.  The  United  States  have 
consequently  the  advantage  over  Europe.  We 
have  half  the  road  to  India  on  our  own  land,  the 
rest  on  a  peaceable  sea  which  washes  our  shores, 
and  with  an  impenetrable  bar  to  Europe  of  the 
whole  diameter  of  the  earth. 

Tliis  railroad,  then,  will  exalt  us  to  be  mistress 


164  THE   PACIFIC    RAILROAD. 

of  the  commerce  of  the  wide  world.  It  will  be  at 
the  same  time  the  impregnable  fortification  to  save 
us  from  the  assault  of  vast  armies,  or  from  fierce 
and  bloody  battles  within  our  own  borders.  Who 
would  stop  to  count  the  cost  of  the  mere  construc 
tion,  when  every  interest  dear  to  the  hope  of  citizen 
and  Christian  is  staked  upon  the  result  ? 

Aside  from  the  commercial  and  political  necessity, 
the  economy  and  convenience  of  the  nation,  the 
interests  of  all  the  people,  demand  this  road  now. 
Americans,  take  the  whole  history  of  the  roads  in 
this,  country  in  the  past  twenty-five  years,  and  you 
will  find  every  dollar  invested  in  them  has  been 
worth  ten  to  you. 

The  vast  increase  of  the  "West  in  population  and 
lands  is  only  to  be  ascribed  to  its  roads.  In  five 
years  Illinois  has  doubled  her  population,  and  in 
creased  her  lands  five-fold.  In  these  five  years 
ten  or  twelve  hundred  miles  of  railway  have  been 
built. 

In  a  moral  and  educational  view,  this  road  must 
have  an  immense  value.  The  tendency  of  popula 
tion  is  all  west ;  the  field  for  the  growth  and 
prosperity  of  the  people  is  there.  In  a  few  years 
it  will  decide  all  our  national  measures  in  Congress; 


THE   PACIFIC   RAILROAD.  165 

it  will  control  our  national  revenues  ;  and,  as  the 
agent  for  transportation  of  newspapers,  cheap  books, 
and  all  those  methods  which  tend  to  enlighten  and 
strengthen  the  Protestant  power  of  our  country, 
the  value  of  the  road  cannot  be  computed.  The 
loss  to  the  country  by  omitting  to  build  this  road 
has  been  more  already  than  would  have  supported 
the  entire  annual  expenses  of  the  government. 

The  American  people  now  almost  unanimously 
demand  this  railroad  as  the  great  necessity  of  our 
times,  and  they  require  it  to  be  built  in  whatever 
latitude  the  great  mass  of  the  population  mostly 
move  ;  —  on  whatever  line  is  shortest,  most  expedi 
tious  in  travel,  and  most  convenient  to  the  thirty 
millions  of  people  who  inhabit  our  thirty-one  states 
and  territories. 

Three  routes  out  of  the  eight  surveyed  at  gov 
ernment  expense  have  been  pronounced  feasible  by 
the  Secretary  of  War  in  his  report  to  Congress. 
These  are  the  northern,  the  central,  and  the  south 
ern  lines.  By  all  of  them  the  harbor  of  San  Fran 
cisco  is  acknowledged  to  be  the  essential  terminus 
of  the  road  on  the  west,  as  it  is  now  the  centre  of 
all  our  commerce  on  the  Pacific  coast.  The  ques 
tion,  then,  is,  what  point  on  the  east  as  a  terminus 


166  THE  PACIFIC   RAILROAD. 

will  correspond  with  San  Francisco,  as  the  centre 
of  the  greatest  amount  of  population  and  commer 
cial  enterprise  on  the  west? 

The  distance  on  the  southern  line  from  San  Fran 
cisco  to  New  York  is  three  thousand  six  hundred 
and  forty-seven  miles  ;  on  the  northern  line,  includ 
ing  distance  yet  unsurveyed,  three  thousand  six 
hundred  and  thirty-four  ;  on  the  central  line,  three 
thousand  two  hundred  and  forty  miles.  This  would 
give  a  distance  of  four  hundred  miles  shorter  to  the 
central  route.  Texas  has  granted  to  any  company 
that  constructs  the  railroad  on  the  southern  route 
ten  thousand  two  hundred  and  forty  acres  of  land 
for  every  mile  of  road  built.  Now,  these  lands 
of  Texas  are  the  only  unimproved  lands  on  this 
continent  where  cotton  can  be  cultivated.  Cotton 
is  the  staple  of  our  commerce ;  the  rest  of  the 
world  is  depending  on  us  for  its  growth,  and  we  do 
not  own  now  a  single  acre  of  government  land 
favorable  to  its  production.  In  this  point  of  view, 
the  grants  of  land  Texas  offers  become  incalculably 
valuable  to  our  whole  country. 

The  charge  for  transporting  goods  across  the 
Panama  Railroad  is  a  tenth  less  than  before  its  con 
struction.  Four  or  five  hours  now  serve  to  carry 


THE  PACIFIC    RAILROAD.  167 

passengers  and  freight  across  the  isthmus,  which 
formerly  occupied  three  days  of  dangerous  travel. 
Freight  is  now  reduced  to  one  hundred  and  twenty- 
five  dollars  the  ton.  But  a  railroad  from  the  coast 
of  Texas  would  not  only  save  time,  but  reduce  the 
tonnage  to  one  half  the  amount  it  now  costs  from 
New  York  to  California.  The  saving  of  freight, 
the  saving  of  time,  would  at  once  induce  every  pru 
dent  and  sagacious  merchant  to  adopt  the  railroad 
across  the  continent,  and  thus  gain  thirty  or  forty 
days. 

The  central  route  starts  from  New  York  to  the 
Pacific,  and  has  already  been  completed  to  Iowa 
City.  From  New  York  city  it  followes  the  Hudson 
River,  the  Erie  Canal,  the  great  lakes,  from  Buffalo 
to  Chicago,  to  Rock  Island.  The  easy  passage  for 
a  bridge  which  is  placed  across  the  Mississippi  at 
Rock  Island  seems  to  have  been  marked  out  by 
Providence  as  the  means  to  facilitate  commerce  across 
the  river,  and  renders  the  route  to  San  Francisco 
the  most  direct  and  advantageous  in  the  judgment 
of  many  eminent  men.  Next  year  the  route  will 
have  reached  Council  Bluff.  All  this  by  individual 
enterprise,  without  government  aid ;  and  which 


168  THE   PACIFIC    RAILROAD. 

will  make  the  next  census  count  in  Iowa  over  a 
million  of  inhabitants. 

All  that  this  route  needs  from  the  government  to 
complete  the  road  to  San  Francisco  from  Iowa  City 
or  Council  Bluff  is  a  grant  of  land,  taking  nothing 
from  the  treasury,  but  augmenting  its  revenues  by 
bringing  the  lands  into  the  market.  This  route  is 
in  the  centre  of  about  one  half  of  the  population 
of  the  whole  country  ;  and  it  is  fair  to  presume,  from 
what  has  been  achieved  by  the  industry  and  enter 
prise  of  the  West,  that  the  road  will  be  built  on 
this  route,  whether  favored  by  the  general  govern 
ment  or  not. 

It  was  the  Erie  Canal  of  New  York  that  made 
the  first  great  revolution  in  the  trade  of  the  coun 
try,  and  exalted  that  state  in  wealth  and  grandeur. 
Ohio  succeeded  with  her  canals  between  the  lakes 
and  the  valley,  and  western  trade  at  once  went  into 
New  York. 

The  canals  of  Maryland  and  Pennsylvania  had 
no  water  communications  from  the  Atlantic  to  the 
Ohio,  and  failed  for  that  reason  ;  while  New  York 
had  a  monopoly  for  thirty  years,  or  until  the  rail 
road  penetrated  the  entire  West  to  the  banks  of  the 
Mississippi.  Steam  conquers  all  other  motors.  The 


THE   PACIFIC    RAILROAD.  169 

incredible  revenues  from  the  central  road  of  Pennsyl 
vania,  and  the  Baltimore  and  Ohio  road,  for  the 
present  year,  show  this  result. 

It  is  steam  which  has  given  England  her  power 
over  the  continent,  by  facilitating  the  transportation 
of  her  coal,  iron,  salt,  and  other  bulky  articles. 
Why  do  the  inhabitants  of  cities  and  towns  enjoy 
greater  advantages  than  those  who  are  settled  over  a 
sparse  country  ?  Because  there  is  an  ampler  field 
for  purchase,  a  greater  variety  of  employments 
for  industry  to  suit  the  ability  and  capacity  of  the 
laborer,  and  greater  quickness  in  finishing  work. 
Where  population  is  collected  the  competition  is 
greater. 

Now,  the  Pacific  Railroad  will  do  for  the  people 
of  our  vast  country  just  what  the  city  or  town  now 
does.  It  will  concentrate  numbers  from  small  and 
distant  places  in  an  incredibly  short  time.  This 
will  at  once  lead  to  prosperity.  Greece  arose  to 
commercial  greatness  in  this  way.  Towns  in  Hol 
land,  Zealand,  and  Flanders,  for  centuries  prospered 
by  these  means.  Switzerland  thus  holds  intercourse 
by  the  Rhine  with  Holland.  While  those  countries 
without  roads,  or  canals,  or  other  water  facilities, 
have  never  risen  intellectually  or  commercially. 
8 


170  THE  PACIFIC   RAILROAD. 

We  have  already  witnessed  the  effect  of  the  rail 
road  upon  our  vast  West,  which  has  conduced  to 
individual  comfort  and  prosperity  wherever  it  has 
penetrated.  There  is  yet  another  advantage  to  be 
attained  by  the  road  across  the  continent,  not  to  be 
overlooked  by  Americans,  and  that  is,  its  effect  upon 
the  diffusion  of  Protestant  principles  over  our  land. 


CHAPTER   IV. 

THE  endless  holidays  of  the  Catholic  church  have 
always  checked  industry ;  and  it  is  a  fact  to  be 
remembered,  that,  although  the  nominal  Roman 
Catholics  (but  greater  proportion  infidel?)  are  more 
numerous  than  Protestants  in  Europe,  a  much 
larger  share  of  Europe's  exports  comes  from  the 
skill  and  ingenuity  of  Protestants  than  Catholics. 
In  Ireland,  linen-weaving,  the  only  great  branch 
of  manufacture,  is  almost  wholly  in  the  hands  of 
Protestants.  In  the  vast  margin  of  the  West  yet 
to  be  filled,  it  becomes  a  question  of  the  first 
moment  to  the  nation  that  it  be  occupied  by  Prot 
estants,  whose  education  tends  to  strengthen  our 
liberties,  while  that  of  Romanism  is  designed  to 
subvert  them.  The  West  will  soon  hold  the  bal 
ance  in  our  national  exchequer,  and  elect  our  chief 
ruler ;  and  it  is  impossible  to  be  too  vigilant  in 
promoting  and  spreading  Protestant  education  over 
all  that  portion  of  our  people.  The  railroad,  more 


172  THE  PACIFIC    RAILROAD. 

than  soil,  more  than  mines,  will  tend  to  this  result, 
by  bringing  all  sections  of  the  Union  together,  and 
advancing  knowledge  to  the  remotest  limits. 

The  revenue  of  our  country  arises  chiefly  by 
consumption ;  and  the  wealth  and  power  of  our 
whole  country  would  be  increased  and  secured  by 
the  increase  of  a  Protestant  American  population. 
The  individual  income  of  such  a  people  would 
also  be  increased.  Why  ?  Because  the  reward  of 
labor  in  all  the  manufacturing  and  mechanic  arts 
would  induce  the  individual  to  adopt  a  uniform 
pursuit ;  while  the  father  of  a  family  would  not  be 
compelled,  as  now,  often  to  sacrifice  education  and 
personal  comfort  for  the  mere  sake  of  living. 

Thus,  Americans,  as  the  commerce  of  the  country 
expanded,  so  would  all  the  arts  and  pursuits  of 
industry  expand,  as  it  grew  great  and  powerful. 
The  Pacific  Railroad  must  increase  the"  medium 
which  circulates  and  regulates  commerce  ;  it  must 
enlighten  and  expand  the  energies  of  men  ;  it 
must  spread  the  influence  of  American  institu 
tions  over  mankind,  and  dissipate  that  very  dark 
ness,  under  which  men  have  been  deluded,  and 
their  means  squandered,  to  grow  rich  without  labor, 
c,r  wise  without  learning.  Foreign  force  and  do 


THE   PACIFIC    RAILROAD.  173 

mestic  treachery  have  struck  at  the  foundation  of 
our  political  edifice.  We  need  at  once  to  balance 
the  public  mind  by  free  Protestant  culture,  so  that 
our  people  shall  reason  before  they  act. 

Before  the  discovery  of  the  mines  of  California 
and  Australia,  the  coin  came  from  Mexico  and 
South  America.  Since  the  discovery  of  these,  a 
new  era  has  been  inaugurated  in  our  commerce 
with  the  world.  In  1849  and  '50,  the  first  flood 
of  gold  came  into  the  country  ;  and  in  the  three 
following  years,  '51,  '52,  and  '53,  the  enormous 
sum  of  one  hundred  and  sixty-six  millions  had  been 
added  to  the  circulation,  including  about  thirty 
millions  in  the  hands  of  individuals.  This  caused 
a  change  in  the  condition  of  the  people,  who,  see 
ing  the  steady  increase  in  three  years,  predicted  a 
rise  which  would,  at  last,  amount  to  one  hundred 
millions  annually.  Then  everything  in  specula 
tion,  expense,  and  importation,  increased.  Banks 
sprang  up,  and  paper  was  used  as  gold ;  wages 
and  work  increased ;  railroad  bonds  were  issued 
by  the  million ;  life  and  fire  insurance  companies 
multiplied.  But  on  what  was  all  this  based? 
Was  it  upon  the  gold  and  silver  in  the  bank  vaults 
of  the  country  ?  Not  at  all ;  but  upon  the  fiction 


174  THE  PACIFIC   RAILROAD. 

which  men  without  reasoning  adopted,  and  the 
delusion  under  which  they  acted. 

By  the  returns  of  the  first  six  years  subsequent 
to  the  discovery  of  gold  in  California,  two  hundred 
millions  of  that  metal  had  been  added  to  the  cir 
culation  of  the  world.  Australia,  though  not  so 
long  known,  brought  fifty  millions  more  ;  making 
two  hundred  and  fifty  millions  more  money  in  use 
than  before  the  discovery  of  these  mines. 

By  the  official  banking  returns  of  the  United 
States  and  Europe  for  that  period,  we  find  that 
there  was  no  more  money  on  hand  then  than  before 
the  discovery.  Where,  then,  did  this  metallic  cur 
rency  go  ?  Why,  it  went  directly  into  the  hands 
of  the  people.  It,  therefore,  was  not  the  instru 
ment  of  the  credit  structure,  which  is  the  proper 
and  only  means  for  making  paper  the  representa 
tive  of  gold  and  silver ;  so  that,  while  this  in 
crease  of  gold  gave  fancied  security  to  the  credit 
it  induced,  it  had  not  really  anything  to  do  with  it. 

The  mining  districts,  including  .all  the  valuable 
metals  found  on  the  Pacific,  will,  in  themselves, 
make  the  railroad  eminently  desirable  for  the  trans 
portation  of  these  metals.  Consider,  Americans, 
that,  alter  eight  years  of  constant  mining,  and  four 


THE   PACIFIC    RAILROAD.  175 

hundred  millions  of  dollars  obtained,  they  are  still 
as  luxurious  as  ever.  Gold  is  seen  embedded  in 
every  stream,  mountain,  and  vale.  The  copper 
mines  of  Lake  Superior  and  Eastern  Tennessee 
have  not  made  even  the  demand  for  this  metal  less 
profitable.  Now,  that  obtained  from  the  new 
copper  mines  of  Ajo  is  wagoned  all  the  way  to 
San  Diego,  and  thence  to  San  Francisco ;  and 
still,  with  all  that  cost,  a  large  profit  is  left  to  the 
transporter.  The  richest  silver  mines  ever  dis 
covered  are  in  Sonora,  in  Mexico,  which  now 
belong  to  us.  Silver,  perfectly  pure,  has  been 
clipped  by  the  sword  of  an  officer,  as  a  specimen. 
The  Indians  have  deterred  explorers,  hitherto,  from 
penetrating  these  mines  ;  but,  now  that  they  have 
become  American  property,  we  shall  find  American 
enterprise  entering  them. 

Americans,  you  perceive  these  rich  mines  of 
gold,  iron,  silver,  and  copper,  will  at  once  be 
made  accessible  by  the  railroad.  Thus  it  will  add 
to  the  capital  of  our  country  vastly  more  than  it 
can  possibly  cost.  This  Pacific  railway  will  be 
the  harbinger  of  the  future  glory  and  aggrandize 
ment  of  American  institutions.  In  twenty  days 
we  shall  be  in  the  most  populous  cities  of  Europe 


176  THE   PACIFIC    RAILROAD. 

and  Asia  We  have  already  consummated  treaties 
which  secure  commerce  and  trade  to  Americans, 
and  protect  their  lives,  property,  and  religious 
liberty,  in  Siam  and  Japan,  so  long  closed  against 
the  trade  of  the  world  ;  and  then  we  will  com 
mand  the  accumulated  wealth  of  seven  hundred 
millions  of  people,  and  which  has  enriched  every 
nation  that  has  had  any  kind  of  control  over  it. 

England,  to  maintain  her  ascendency  over  this 
trade,  has  already  three  over-land  mail  routes,  and 
is  now  engaged  in  devising  three  more,  to  carry 
this  Eastern  commerce  to  the  British  empire.  But 
a  railroad,  to  do  this  for  England,  would  have  to 
extend  six  thousand  five  hundred  miles,  and  would 
take  fourteen  years  to  build  it.  Now,  by  the  com 
promise  of  1850,  which  Millard  Fillmore  signed, 
as  President  of  the  United  States,  we  secured  the 
ten  leagues  of  country  on  the  Pacific  coast,  which 
included  California,  and  planted  our  flag  there. 
And,  by  this  means,  —  made  our  blessing,  under 
God,  —  we  can  make  our  national  road,  which  will 
convey  us  across  the  continent  to  the  Bay  of  San 
Francisco  in  seven  days  ;  and  ten  or  twelve  days 
from  there,  by  steam,  will  land  Americans  in  the 
populous  countries  of  Eastern  and  Western  Asia 


THE  PACIFIC   RAILROAD.  177 

and  Western  Europe.  It  will  give  them  a  hold  on 
the  wealth  of  China,  which  has  been  increasing 
for  six  thousand  years,  and  bring  them  in  contact 
with  her  seven  hundred  millions  of  inhabitants  in 
twenty  days  from  the  day  they  leave  New  York. 

This  railroad,  then,  will  put  sectional  agitation 
among  our  people  at  rest,  and  set  them  about  these 
new  channels  of  trade  and  commerce.  We  have 
now  control  of  the  cotton  market  of  the  world,  and 
the  certain  prospect  of  having  the  same  power  over 
wool.  Iron,  also,  in  every  state  but  one,  is  abun 
dant  enough  to  supply  the  whole  American  conti 
nent  ;  and,  in  a  few  years,  we  shall  likewise  con 
trol  the  market  of  this  great  item  in  trade.  Gold, 
too,  will  then  be  more  rapidly  diffused  over  the 
civilized  world,  and  this  will  facilitate  the  activity 
of  our  commerce.  A  greater  amount  of  labor  will 
then  be  made  available,  to  work  the  mines  of  Cali 
fornia  and  Australia,  than  ever  before. 

The  effect  of  the  discovery  of  the  precious 
metals  in  California  has  been  to  stimulate  the 
latent  energies  of  men  to  an  extent  never  wit 
nessed  before,  and  has  been  the  means  of  forcing 
the  necessity  of  a  railway  upon  the  common  sense 

of  the  American  people.     The  poor  man  will  be 

8* 


178  THE  PACIFIC   RAILROAD. 

more  benefited  than  the  rich  by  this  road  ;  and  the 
labor  employed  in  the  development  of  our  new 
territory,  and  the  exploration  of  its  mines,  will 
prevent  any  superabundance  of  laborers  in  the 
most  thickly-settled  parts  of  the  country,  and  stop 
the  poor  man  from  working  for  the  pittance  he  now 
does. 

The  manufacturer,  also,  by  the  increased  free 
dom  to  commerce  which  the  constant  and  rapid 
transportation  of  gold  from  California  and  Austra 
lia  will  then  command,  will  find  himself  better  able 
to  cope  with  the  manufacturers  of  Europe. 

According  to  Professor  Blake,  the  great  gold 
field  in  California,  notwithstanding  the  large  in 
crease  to  the  circulation  of  the  precious  metals,  has 
not  yet  been  fully  explored.  There  is  a  field  seven 
hundred  miles  in  length,  and  about  fifty  in  breadth, 
containing  thirty-five  thousand  square  miles,  eleven 
thousand  of  which  are  rich  in  gold,  sometimes 
extending  to  the  depth  of  six  feet  in  the  sands  of 
the  coast.  This  is  repeatedly  washed  out  of  the 
black  sand  by  the  tides.  The  number  of  square 
miles  worked,  but  imperfectly,  we  are  assured  by 
Dr.  Trask,  in  his  work  on  geology,  never  exceeds 
four  hundred  at  a  time ;  and  fewer  persons  were 


THE   PACIFIC    RAILROAD.  179 

engaged  in  mining  in  1854  than  in  1852,  although 
the  product  of  gold  was  in  '52  forty-five  millions 
of  dollars,  and  in  '54  sixty-one  millions.  This 
was  owing  to  the  increased  advantages  of  working 
the  mines  by  proper  machinery. 

Now,  by  the  highest  authorities  we  find  that  the 
amount  of  gold  in  the  whole  world,  in  1848,  was 
two  billions  nine  hundred  millions  of  dollars,  or  six 
hundred  millions  of  pounds  ;  while,  by  the  increase 
from  the  mines  of  California  and  Australia  since 
that  time,  at  least  four  billions  of  dollars  have  been 
added  to  that  amount,  which  would  make  now,  in 
the  whole  world,  six  billions  nine  hundred  millions 
of  dollars  of  gold,  beside  what  is  worked  into  jewelry 
and  plate.  And,  Americans,  does  it  not  cause  a 
thrill  of  triumph  in  your  hearts  to  know  that,  of 
this  increase  to  the  precious  metals,  your  own  State 
of  California  has  contributed  three  hundred  and 
thirteen  millions  two  hundred  and  eighty-five  thou 
sand  five  hundred  and  two  dollars  and  seventy- 
seven  cents ;  and  other  parts  of  America,  seventeen 
million  seven  hundred  and  sixty-six  thousand  seven 
hundred  and  sixty-eight  dollars  and  fifty-seven 
cents  ? 


CHAPTER    V. 

M.  TEGOBORSKI,  Counsel  of  the  Empire  of  Russia, 
in  writing  of  the  influence  of  the  gold  fields  of 
California  and  Australia,  estimates  that  by  them 
the  amount  of  gold  and  silver  in  use  in  Europe  will 
be  doubled  in  thirteen  years,  and  throughout  the 
whole  world  in  twenty-four  years. 

Beside,  what  is  the  effect  of  the  discovery  of  the 
mines  of  California  in  Europe  ?  Why,  it  has 
raised  real  estate  four  per  cent,  per  annum,  and 
advanced  all  kinds  of  produce  in  like  manner.  It 
has  also  advanced  the  wages  of  labor  in  like  ratio. 
How  ?  Because  the  poor  working-man,  before 
dependent  on  the  employer  for  the  mere  sustenance 
of  life,  is  now  driven  to  another  field  of  operation, 
and  incited  by  the  desire  to  accumulate,  and  thus 
changing  often  the  state  of  things  by  making  the 
rich  man  dependent  on  the  laborer. 

So  those  who  remained  as  well  as  those  who 
went  to  California  were  benefited.  If  that  was  so 


THE   PACIFIC    RAILROAD.  181 

in  Europe,  let  us  turn  to  our  own  country,  —  we, 
the  possessors  of  California.  We  see  how  our 
commerce  is  extended ;  we  see,  day  by  day,  how 
eagerly  the  accumulations  of  gold  and  silver  in  our 
bank- vaults  are  taken  and  transported  into  other 
countries,  to  bring  back  their  merchandise  to  us. 
Why  ?  Because  its  shipment  to  England,  France, 
and  Germany,  equalizes  the  value  of  gold,  and 
prevents  the  dangers  to  trade  which  result  from 
keeping  it  under  bars  and  bolts.  The  railroad  to 
the  Pacific  has  now  become  a  necessity  to  the 
American  people,  that  they  may  enjoy  the  free 
heritage  God  has  given  them,  opening  all  the  ave 
nues  to  wealth  and  industry,  and  making  their 
voice  heard  on  the  hills,  in  the  valleys,  the  cities, 
and  the  plains,  of  the  whole  earth.  This,  Ameri 
cans,  will  be  the  great  triumph  of  the  American 
States  over  commerce,  mechanics,  and  manufac 
tures,  which  nothing  can  impede  beneath  the  stars. 
The  railway  and  the  canal  will  be  the  true  con 
querors  of  the  world.  Around  them  will  centre 
the  industry  and  energy  of  the  Anglo-Saxon  race 
There  the  Protestant  emigrant  will  seek  his  new 
home.  They  will  become  the  majority  of  the 


182  THE  PACIFIC    RAILROAD. 

population,  and  the  consequent  possessors  of  most 
of  the  property  of  the  country. 

The  telegraph  will  then  become  the  electric 
medium  of  exchange,  which,  without  a  visible 
chain,  will  link  the  American  Union  to  the  world. 
"  Lo,  what  hath  God  wrought !  "  were  the  memo 
rable  words  which  passed  over  the  wires  of  the 
first  telegraph  ever  made  in  the  United  States, 
a  few  years  since,  between  Baltimore  and  Washing 
ton,  a  distance  of  but  forty  miles.  Now,  Ameri 
cans,  we  not  only  find  it  in  the  full  exercise  of  its 
magic  power  in  all  the  states  of  this  mighty  Union, 
but  actually  preparing  to  bring  us  in  speaking  dis 
tance  of  the  other  continent. 

You  all  know  that  the  Island  of  St.  John's, 
Newfoundland,  is  the  most  eastern  point  of  North 
America,  and  Valencia  is  the  most  western  harbor 
of  the  British  Isles.  The  waters  of  the  St.  Law 
rence  have  long  since  cut  Newfoundland  from  the 
continent.  Now  a  submarine  telegraph  has  been 
laid,  which  brings  Newfoundland  and  the  main  land 
again  in  contact ;  and  the  distance  from  St.  John's 
to  New  York,  of  one  thousand  seven  hundred  and 
eighty  miles,  can  be  reached  by  direct  communi 
cation.  But  still  the  ocean  was  to  be  crossed  to 


THE  PACIFIC  RAILROAD.  183 

reach  Europe,  and  the  question  arose  how  this  could 
best  be  done.  Some  proposed  extending  the  line 
to  Labrador,  Greenland,  Iceland,  and  the  Faroe 
Islands ;  but  to-  this  there  were  insurmountable 
objections,  and,  after  the  investigation  of  scien 
tific  men,  it  was  decided  that  the  line  must  also 
start  from  Newfoundland  to  Europe,  a  distance  of 
nineteen  hundred  miles,  on  account  of  the  depth  of 
the  water,  essential  to  the  success  of  the  enterprise. 

The  plan  devised,  and  about  to  be  executed,  is 
this  :  A  line  of  wire  three  thousand  miles  long  will 
be  placed  on  two  war-ships  in  mid-ocean,  one 
belonging  to  the  United  States,  the  other  to  Eng 
land.  These  will  each  take  half  the  wire.  The 
wire  will  be  covered  with  gutta  percha  coatings, 
and  will  be  made  of  the  best  conducting  material, 
accompanied  by  a  machine,  invented  for  the  express 
purpose,  by  Dr.  Whitehouse,  of  England,  in  order 
to  ascertain  when  the  wire  is  broken  or  damaged, 
and  the  exact  point  of  interruption. 

Thus,  Americans,  by  your  inventive  genius,  you 
are  with  one  grapple  about  to  join  Europe  to  this 
country  by  a  telegraph,  which  will  start  at  New 
foundland,  and  end  at  Valencia,  in  Ireland,  with 
one  thousand  nine  hundred  miles  of  cable  resting 


184  THE  PACIFIC   RAILROAD. 

in  the  Atlantic  Ocean  !  This  is  not  an  ideal 
sketch,  but  a  living  reality,  that  in  1857,  next 
year,  the  British  Isles  and  the  United  States, 
though  divided  by  a  stormy  ocean  of  three  thousand 
miles,  will  by  science  and  machinery  hold  conversa 
tional  intercourse  with  each  other ;  and,  at  the 
same  time,  the  distance  by  railway  between  Nova 
Scotia  and  Portland,  Maine,  will  have  diminished 
our  travelling  distance  from  Europe  eleven  hundred 
miles ! 

These  mighty  works  show  the  mutual  benefit 
England  and  the  United  States  are  each  to  the 
other,  while  they  continue  as  they  are.  While  the 
energy  of  this  great  American  people,  too  rapid  for 
carrier  pigeons,  and  even  steam,  and  eager  to  extend 
and  profit  by  every  advantage  in  commerce,  inven 
tion,  finance,  science,  and  arts,  and  to  move  in  the 
rapid  march  of  civilization  over  the  whole  globe, 
has  already  forged  the  chain  which  is  to  bind  us 
to  the  three  ancient  continents  of  the  Eastern 
world. 

Well  might  Mr.  Dallas,  the  American  minister, 
declare  that  the  great  telegraph,  now  making, 
would  afford  Americans  the  opportunity  soon  to 
respond  to  the  toast  given  to  Americans  in  London 


THE   PACIFIC    RAILROAD.  185 

* 

before  the  dinner  ended.  "  When  famine  distressed 
other  lands,  in  the  land  of  Egypt  there  was  bread." 
So  with  our  beloved  country  :  from  the  diversity  of 
its  soil  and  climate,  its  power  in  raising  subsistence 
will  so  increase  as  the  humbler  condition  of  society 
advances  by  intelligence,  that  it  would  be  physi 
cally  impossible  to  arrest  the  march  of  the  American 
people  in  commerce,  wealth,  or  mental  activity. 

Now  we  come  to  the  great  question,  who  is  to 
make  the  road  to  the  Pacific,  —  Congress,  that  is, 
the  general  government,  or  the  people  ? 

We  say  it  cannot  be  built  without  the  coopera 
tion  of  the  government,  because  there  are  fifteen 
hundred  miles  between  Missouri  and  California, 
over  which  Congress  alone  has  power  to  legislate. 
The  constitution,  which  gives  Congress  the  right  to 
regulate  commerce,  allows  the  general  government 
to  build  the  road  to  California  from  New  York,  for 
a  mail  route,  if  it  so  decided.  Congress  can  give 
or  sell  the  public  lands,  as  it  pleases.  Congress  can 
appropriate  money,  if  it  pleases,  to  build  a  road  or 
roads  through  the  landed  estate  of  the  government 
for  mail  transportation,  or  military  purposes.  We 
do  not  advocate  the  especial  claims  of  either  of  the 
three  routes  surveyed.  Each  has  its  advantages ; 


18G  THE  PACIFIC   RAILROAD. 

and  all  may  be  laterally  connected,  or  ultimately 
and  separately  constructed.  But,  we  say,  had  the 
present  administration  done  its  duty,  and  favored 
the  building  of  the  road  to  the  Pacific  three  years 
ago,  — instead  of  burning  Grey  town,  making  Ostend 
conferences  to  seize  Cuba  by  "  divine  "  right,  and 
repealing  the  Missouri  Compromise,  which  has 
brought  upon  us  intestine  war,  —  our  country, 
instead  of  being  divided,  distracted,  and  agitated, 
would  have  been  running  a  new  race  in  dignity, 
and  political  and  commercial  greatness. 

The  administration,  on  the  contrary,  early 
receded  from  this  national  measure.  The  leading 
presses,  which  sustained  it,  followed  in  elaborate 
articles  against  the  road.  Senators  of  the  same 
political  school  declared  the  measure  would  be 
worse  than  the  alien  and  sedition  laws  of  John 
Adams.  They  saw  no  power  in  the  constitution, 
while  grant  after  grant,  in  the  last  seven  years,  has 
been  made  by  Congress  to  the  Southern  and  Western 
States.  The  people  saw  nothing  to  prevent  it,  and 
with  more  energy  than  ever  before  renewed  that 
demand. 


THE   LOSS   OF  THE 

SLOOP  -  OF  -  WAR  "  ALBANY,"  -^  - 

COMMANDER  GERRY,  OFFICERS,  AND  CREW. 


CHAPTER  I. 

THE  Author  in  a  previous  work,  "  The  Ameri 
can  Battle,"  was  induced,  by  the  misrepresentations 
of  officers,  to  make  some  statements  which  she 
afterwards  learned,  from  an  examination  of  the 
documents,  to  have  been  untrue,  and  which  she 
therefore  corrected  in  the  previous  editions  of 
the  present  volume.  The  statements  were  then 
made,  as  she  was  assured,  upon  the  most  reliable 
authority,  the  verity  of  which  she  believed  there 
fore  rested  upon  the  most  credible  testimony, 
rather  than  upon  the  zealous  enthusiasm  of  the 
informers.  As  she  cannot,  and  will  not,  to  support 
any  cause,  or  subserve  any  party  or  creed,  allow 
a  statement  to  bear  the  sanction  of  her  name  that 

t8T 


188        LOSS   OF   THE   SLOOP-OF-WAR   ALBANY. 

is  not  supported  by  evidence  of  its  authenticity, 
she  has  requested  her  publishers  to  withdraw  that 
chapter  from  the  future  editions  of  ' '  The  Ameri 
can  Battle"  solely  because  it  contains  certain 
errors,  caused  by  misrepresentations  made  to  her. 
It  was  from  a  knowledge  of  this  fact,  brought  to 
her  notice  by  the  examination  of  the  official  docu 
ments,  and  the  pain  she  experienced  in  having 
innocently,  but  most  unjustly,  committed,  through 
others,  a  wrong  upon  the  gallant  dead,  and  by 
her  own  high  sense  of  right,  that  she  was  at 
once  prompted  to  make  a  public  exposition  of  the 
character  and  services  of  Commander  Gerry,  who 
must  be  regarded,  by  all  who  are  correctly  in 
formed  of  his  private  and  public  history,  as  one 
of  the  brightest  ornaments  of  the  Navy,  and 
possessed  of  every  virtue  that  gives  claim  to 
the  confidence  and  respect  of  his  country  and  of 
humanity 

The  misrepresentation  in  the  case  of  the  late 
distinguished  Commander  Gerry,  of  the  United 
States  Navy,  is  first  in  importance,  as  it  reflected 
upon  one  who  is  not  here  to  vindicate  his  own 
claim  to  justice.  But  data,  which  none  can  deny, 
are  at  hand,  as  effectually  to  refute  the  charge 
as  though  he  were  personally  present.  The  offi- 


LOSS   OF   THE    SLOOP-OF-WAR   ALBANY.        189 

cial  documents,  which  the  author  has  read,  make 
no  mention  of  any  application  from  a  subordinate 
to  place  a  Bible  and  religious  library  in  the  cabin 
of  the  Albany,  under  command  of  Captain  Gerry. 
There  is  not  one  word  to  be  read  in  connection 
with  this  matter,  from  beginning  to  end,  in  these 
documents. 

The  history  of  no  misfortune  that  nas  ever 
befallen  the  Navy  caused  deeper  affliction  or 
more  lasting  sorrow  than  that  of  the  loss  of  the 
sloop-of-war  Albany. 

Captain  Gerry  was  her  noble  commander, 
aided  by  many  of  the  most  gallant  and  valuable 
officers  in  the  naval  service,  when  she  met  that 
mysterious  fate  which  none  survived  to  reveal. 
The  last  official  intelligence  of  this  ship  was  dated 
on  the  28th  of  September,  1854,  announcing  that 
she  would  sail  next  day  from  Aspinwall  for  New 
York,  and  subsequent  information  leads  us  to 
believe  Captain  Gerry  intended  to  return  by  way 
of  the  Mona  passage.  A  terrific  hurricane  oc 
curred  in  that  latitude  on  the  21st  of  October, 
which  it  is  supposed  the  Albany  must  have  en 
countered,  and  there  met  her  lamentable  fate. 
After  waiting  long  in  expectation  of  her  arrival, 
the  most  painful  anxiety  was  awakened  on  ac- 


190       LOSS  OF  THE   SLOOP-OF-WAR  ALRANY. 

count  of  these  brave  men,  and  the  Princeton, 
under  the  command  of  Captain  Eagle,  an  accom 
plished  and  skillful  officer  in  the  service,  was  sent 
to  discover  some  tidings  of  their  fate  ;  which, 
after  a  thorough  search,  he  was  unable  to  do. 

The  United  States  steamer  Fulton,  Lieutenant 
John  K.  Mitchell  commanding,  which  sailed  from 
Aspinwall,  New  Granada,  March  2,  also  made  a 
thorough  search  among  the  Bahama  and  Wind 
ward  Islands  and  the  Spanish  Main  ;  but  without 
any  more  successful  result. 

On  the  18th  of  April,  1855,  within  seven 
months  from  the  sailing  of  the  Albany  from  As 
pinwall,  the  department  announced  the  names  of 
the  promoted  officers  by  this  melancholy  event, 
and  thus  settled  the  conviction  upon  the  public 
mind,  that  all  hopes  of  the  survival  of  Captain 
Gerry  and  his  associates  had  vanished  forever  f 

The  department,  m  making  this  annunciation, 
made  honorable  mention  of  the  distinguished  ser 
vices  of  Captain  Gerry,  "who,  in  pursuance  of 
the  orders  of  the  commodore,  had  been  actively 
cruising  during  the  entire  year,  as  commander  of 
the  Albany,  and  had  visited,  among  other  ports, 
those  of  Samana,  Sisal,  St.  Thomas,  Port  Royal, 
and  St.  Jago  de  Cuba."  And  the  Secretary  of  the 


LOSS   OF  THE   SLOOP-OF-WAR   ALBANY.        191 

Navy  further  remarked,  that  "  this  ship  had  done 
good  service,  and  Commander  Gerry  and  his  offi 
cers  merit  the  approbation  of  the  department,  as 
I  have  reason  to  know  that  the  appearance  of 
our  flag  at  these  ports,  and  the  bearing  of  the  offi 
cers,  contributed  much  to  the  encouragement  and 
protection  of  our  citizens  engaged  in  commercial 
transactions  in  these  regions." 

Commander  Gerry,  was  the  youngest  son  of  the 
late  Elbridge  Gerry,  who  died  in  the  discharge  of 
his  duties,  as  Vice-President  of  the  United  States, 
to  which  office  he  was  elected  by  the  unanimous 
vote  of  the  "  Republican"  party,  in  1812. 

In  separating  the  British  Government  from  the 
Colony  of  Massachusetts,  and  forming  one  to  suit 
the  people's  choice  ;  in  the  foreign  and  domestic 
concerns  of  the  country,  while  the  war  of  the 
revolution  was  in  progress  ;  in  arranging  for  the 
cessation  of  hostilities,  and  the  treaty  of  peace, 
Mr.  Gerry  bore  a  prominent  and  distinguished 
part. 

He.  was  in  the  front  ranks  of  the  Convention 
which  formed  the  Constitution.  He  was  a  mem 
ber  of  the  House  of  Representatives  in  Congress, 
at  the  organization  of  the  Federal  Government. 
He  was  an  ambassador  to  France,  to  negotiate 


192        LOSS   OF   THE   SLOOP-OF-WAR   ALBANY. 

our  difficulties,  and  terminate  our  treaties  with 
that  power. 

He  was  Governor  of  Massachusetts  at  the  be 
ginning  of  our  second  war  with  England,  which 
he  fearlessly  advocated,  and  afterwards  presided 
over  the  councils  of  the  nation,  during  the  con 
tinuance  of  that  war,  as  Yice-President  of  the 
United  States. 

There  is  too,  one  remarkable  fact  to  be  remem 
bered,  that  but  seven  of  those  who  signed  the 
Declaration  of  Independence,  participated  in  the 
formation  of  the  Constitution.  Of  these,  Mr. 
Gerry  was  one. 

And  in  the  first  and  second  Congress  after  the 
organization  of  the  government,  while  many  were 
found  who  had  been  distinguished,  either  in  the 
military  or  civil  service  of  the  country,  during  the 
Revolutionary  War,  it  was  rare  then,  to  find  one 
who  had  taken  an  active  part,  both  in  the  Revo 
lution  and  the  adoption  of  the  Constitution,  as 
Mr.  Gerry  had  done.  And  when  presiding  over 
the  Senate  of  the  United  States,  in  1813,  he  was 
believed  to  be  the  only  individual  in  either  branch 
of  Congress,  who  had  served  in  the  "  immortal 
Congress"  of  1776! 

It  may  not  be  improper  here  to  remind  the 


LOSS   OF   THE   SLOOP-OF-WAR   ALBANY.        193 

reader,  that  of  those  who  signed  the  great  char 
ter  of  our  independence,  all  were  never  present 
at  any  one  time.  Many  who  had  iio  voice  in 
making  or  originating  it,  who  neither  voted  for 
the  resolutions,  nor  for  their  publication,  after 
wards  became  members  of  Congress,  and  signed 
the  Declaration  of  Independence. 

This,  they  were  instructed  by  their  respective 
State  Legislatures  to  do,  and  which  was  done 
from  time  to  time,  throughout  the  year  1776  ! 
Mr.  Gerry  was  not  one  of  the  latter  class. 
Though  all  who  signed  that  sacred  instrument, 
deserve  the  imperishable  glory  which  will  ever 
belong  to  their  venerated  names !  But  two  of 
his  colleagues  of  the  Revolution  ever  attained  an 
elevation  beyond  that  of  Elbridge  Gerry.  These 
were  Adams  and  Jefferson,  who,  after  assisting 
in  inaugurating  the  independence  of  the  nation, 
and  sacrificing  for  its  perpetuity,  were  summoned 
on  its  fiftieth  anniversary  to  the  judgment  of  im 
mortality  on  the  same  day.  And  in  consideration 
of  the  fact,  that  Mr.  Gerry  entered  the  service 
of  his  country  when  subject  to  England  ;  that  he 
signed  the  Declaration,  and  aided  in  making  the 
Constitution  ;  that  he  was  a  party  to  the  first  or 
ganization  of  the  government,  and  presided  over 

9 


194        LOSS   OF   THE   SLOOP-OF-WAR   ALBANY. 

the  destinies  of  his  native  State,  when  measures 
were  being  taken  for  a  second  war  with  England, 
which  really  gave  us  nationality,  and  when  we 
remember  that  he  afterwards  was  transferred 
as  presiding  officer  over  the  councils  of  the  na 
tion,  and  with  such  entire  acceptance  to  all  sec 
tions,  when  the  War  of  1812  was  raging  with 
England,  and  the  permanence  and  fidelity  of  our 
people  to  free  institutions  was  being  tested,  we 
cannot  but  regard  this  series  of  patriotic  services 
furnished  by  Elbridge  Gerry,  as  connecting  them 
selves  with  the  history  of  no  other  man  in  the 
nation,  of  whom  we  have  knowledge. 

We  may  add  that,  as  an  appreciation  of  all  this, 
Congress  in  1823,  passed  a  law,  and  made  an  ap 
propriation  to  erect  a  monument  over  the  tomb 
of  Elbridge  Gerry,  in  the  Congressional  Cemetery, 
at  Washington  City. 

This  is  the  first,  and  only  instance,  in  which  the 
nation  has  ever  erected  a  monument  to  a  native 
citizen  at  its  own  cost ! 

Capt.  James  Thompson  Gerry,  in  consequence 
of  his  father's  decease  in  1814,  withdrew  from 
Harvard  College,  which  he  entered  the  previous 
year,  and  received  a  warrant  as  cadet  at  West 
Point,  and  after  remaining  there  one  year,  he 


LOSS   OF   THE   SLOOP-OF-WAR  ALBANY.        195 

entered  the  Navy,  December  20,  1815.  He  was 
made  a  Lieutenant,  April  28th,  1826,  and  pro 
moted  to  the  rank  of  Commander,  April  17th, 

1842.  He  passed  much  of  his  naval  life  at  sea,  and 
with  such  scrupulous  fidelity  to  duty  as  to  have 
merited  the  highest  encomiums  in  every  grade  of 
the  service,  and  from  all  with  whom  he  was  offici 
ally  associated.     His  mental  strength,  decision  and 
energy  of  purpose,  bore  a  striking  resemblance  to 
those  traits  in  his  father's  character,  whose  vir 
tues    he    emulated,    and   whom    personally    he 
strongly  resembled.     Like  his  father,  too,  he  met 
death  when  in  the  actual  service  of  his  country. 

Capt.  Gerry,  in  early  life,  had  performed  much 
creditable  service  in  the  squadron  of  the  Mediter 
ranean  and  China  Seas,  and  elsewhere.  And  had 
served  also  in  the  Home  Squadron,  with  credit  to 
himself,  in  the  years  from  1839  to  the  summer  of 

1843,  in  the  sloop-of-war  Warren,  as  lieutenant ; 
and  when  promoted  in  1842,  he  had  command  of 
the  brig-of-war  Somers,  which  vessel  was  upset 
and  lost  in  a  squall  off  Vera  Cruz,  after  he  had 
been  relieved  from  the  command.     The  squadron 
was  ordered  north  in  the  summer  months,  and 
remained  off  the  Navy  Yard,  Charlestown. 

The  Somers,  in  the  subsequent  summer,  when 


196       LOSS   OF   THE   SLOOP-OF-WAR   ALBANY. 

under  Capt.  Gerry's  command,  was  ordered  to 
the  Philadelphia  Navy  Yard,  and  sailed  again  in 
November  for  St.  Domingo,  the  Secretary  of 
the  Navy,  then  not  deeming  it  advisable  to  detain 
United  States  vessels  of  war  in  the  Caribbean 
Sea  during  the  hurricane  and  sickly  season. 
Oapt.  Gerry  was  an  experienced  officer  in  navi 
gating  these  waters,  and  was  on  much  important 
duty  in  the  Somers,  which  was  a  dispatch  vessel. 
He  knew  the  necessity  of  our  squadron  on  the 
Home  Station  being  ordered  North  at  the  season 
of  the  year,  in  southern  latitudes,  so  dangerous  to 
life  'and  property,  by  yellow  fever,  in  the  one  case, 
and  hurricanes,  in  the  other.  Capt.  Gerry  con 
centrated  in  his  character  those  rare  and  promi 
nent  elements  which  at  once  inspired  confidence 
in  the  stranger,  and  won  for  him  the  universal 
esteem  and  respect  of  every  community  with 
which  he  was  associated. 

The  Albany  sailed  from  Charlestown  Navy  Yard, 
Massachusetts,  Nov.  29th,  1852,  under  his  com 
mand,  and  with  as  efficient,  gallant,  and  respect 
able  an  association  of  officers  and  crew  as  ever 
sailed  in  the  service  of  the  United  States.  We 
place  on  honorable  record  their  distinguished 
names,  while  their  memories  are  embalmed  in  the 


LOSS   OF   THE  SLOOP-OF-WAR   ALBANY.        197 

hearts  of  their  many  thousand  friends  and  fellow- 
countrymen  : 

COMMANDER  JAMES  T.  GERRY. 

NICHOLAS  FISH  MOBRIS,  Private  Secretary  to  Commander. 

WILLIAM  "W.  BLEECKEE,  First  Lieutenant. 

MONTGOMERY  HUNT,  Second  Lieutenant. 

JOHN  QUINCY  ADAMS,  Third  Lieutenant* 

HENRY  ROGERS,  Fourth  Lieutenant. 

ROBERT  MARR,  Acting  Master. 

STEPHEN  M'CREARY,  Surgeon. 

RICHARD  D.  CONMAN,  Assistant  Surgeon, 

NIXON  WHITE,  Purser. 

BENNBT  J,  RILEY,  Midshipman. 

WILLIAM  JONES,  Boatswain. 

WILLIAM  CRAIG,  Gunner. 

JAMES  FRAZER,  Sail-Maker. 

ROWLAND  LEACH,  Carpenter. 

BELLIGEB  SCOTT,  Master's  Mate. 

WILLIAM  J.  BOND,    do.       do, 

DEXTER  BRIGHAM,     do.       do. 

Being —  18  Officers, 

23  Marines, 

156  Seamen.. 

Total ...  197  as  by  the  return  to  the  Navy  Department. 

The  officers  were  connected  with  the  most 
respectable  and  distinguished  families  in  our  coun 
try.  Bleecker,  the  first-lieutenant,  was  from  the  old 
Bleecker  family  after  whom  a  well  known  street  in 
New  York  is  called.  Adams  was  the  nephew  of 
the  last  President  of  the  United  States  of  that 
name.  Rodgers,  son  of  Commodore  John  Rod- 
gers,  of  the  War  of  1812.  Hunt,  a  highly  respect- 


198        LOSS   OF   THE    SLOOP-OF-WAR   ALBANY. 

able  family  in  the  State  of  New  York.  Marr  was 
a  son-in-law  of  Commodore  Lavallette.  Riley, 
son  of  General  Riley,  also  of  the  State  of  New 
York.  The  other  three  wardroom  officers  were 
equally  respectable,  and  we  believe  from  the 
South.  The  rest  of  the  officers  above  named 
were  considered  equal  to  any  of  their  grade  in 
the  service. 

Lieut.  Reed  Werden,  now  attached  to  the 
National  Observatory  at  Washington,  D.  0.,  also 
belonged  to  the  Albany  on  her  cruise  to  the 
Fishing  Banks  and  back  to  New  York  ;  and  in 
the  subsequent  cruise,  until  about  the  6th  of 
April,  1854,  when,  on  account  of  ill  health,  he 
was  detached  from  the  ship  at  Havana.  The 
elevated  character  he  sustains,  as  an  efficient 
officer,  in  connection  with  his  great  moral  worth, 
is  well  known  to  the  service  and  the  country. 


CHAPTER  II. 

WHEN  last  seen  at  Aspinwall,  September  28th, 
1854,  the  Albany  was  bound  for  New  York,  after 
being  on  active  duty  for  twenty-two  months,  and 
having  sailed,  during  this  period,  nearly  forty 
thousand  miles,  believed  to  be  the  greatest  amount 
of  service  ever  performed,  in  so  short  a  time,  by 
any  United  States  vessel,  on  record.  The  crew 
were  in  fine  health,  the  discipline  of  the  ship  was 
perfect,  and  the  yellow  fever,  then  an  epidemic 
abroad,  had  not,  because  of  this,  invaded  the 
vessel  in  its  whole  term  of  service.  Commodore 
Gregory  supervised  the  fitting  of  the  Albany  in 
1852  in  a  proper  and  satisfactory  manner,  and 
she  needed  but  slight  repairs  until  her  return 
from  the  Fishing  Banks  on  November  7th,  1853, 
where,  in  a  cruise  of  thirty-four  days  from  the 
time  of  leaving  New  York,  the  Albany  had 
experienced  a  continued  series  of  gales  and  hurri 
canes,  to  which  she  proved  equal.  She  had  then 
been  at  sea  six  months  and  a  half  of  the  eleven 


199 


200       LOSS   OF   THE   SLOOP-OF-WAR   ALBANY. 

and  a  half  months  since  leaving  Chariest  own. 
She  next  left  New  York,  December  12th,  1853, 
for  the  Island  of  St.  Thomas  and  the  Caribbean 
Sea,  and  sailed  last  from  Pensacola  June  29th, 
1854,  having  gone  there  for  repairs.  When  the 
Albany  left  Pensacola,  she  had  sailed  thirty-four 
thousand  miles.  Her  officers  were  considered,  in 
all  respects,  among  the  highest  in  the  service,  and 
her  crew  equally  so,  in  their  vocation,  being 
mostly  young  Americans.  Such  was  the  received 
opinion,  to  the  last  tidings  of  that  ill-fated  vessel. 
At  Carthagena,  this  admiration  of  officers  and 
crew  was  reported  by  distinguished  persons,  who 
saw  them  there  in  1854.  At  Pensacola,  on  the 
arrival  of  the  Albany,  seventy-five  men  were  sent 
on  shore,  at  liberty,  by  Commander  Gerry,  for 
forty-eight  hours.  The  Mayor  and  President  of 
Board  of  Aldermen  returned  a  complimentary 
notice  of  their  conduct  to  the  captain,  when  the 
other  half  were  permitted,  in  like  manner,  to  go 
ashore,  thus  manifesting  the  admirable  discipline 
of  the  ship. 

1 '  The  New  York  Herald  "  published  notices  from 
the  merchants  of  San  Juan  and  Greytown,  com 
mending  the  conduct  of  Captain  Gerry,  in  busi 
ness  negotiations  between  them  and  our  govern- 


LOSS  OF   THE  SLOOP-OF-WAR  ALBANY.       201 

raent.  Similar  ones  were  published  at  Aspin- 
wall,  and  expressed  at  Turk's  Island.  And,  at 
Laguria,  not  only  did  the  merchants  signify  their 
approval  of  Captain  Gerry's  business  arrange 
ments,  but  the  Secretary  of  the  Navy  addressed 
him  a  letter,  February  2d,  1854,  especially  ap 
proving  his  action  on  that  island. 

At  Havana,  St.  Thomas,  and,  indeed,  all  the 
ports  entered  by  the  Albany,  marked  attention 
was  shown  to  Captain  Gerry.  The  fact  that  he 
was  a  son  of  the  illustrious  Elbridge  Gerry,  with 
whose  history  the  civilized  world  are  familiar,  at 
once  gave  prestige  to  his  position,  added  to  his 
own  personal  merit  as  an  officer  and  a  gentleman. 

The  following  anecdote  is  related  by  an  officer 
who  was  present  at  an  interview  which  occurred 
between  Sir  Charles  Edward  Grey,  late  Gover 
nor-General  of  Jamaica,  and  Commander  Gerry, 
on  board  the  steamer  Isabel,  destined  for  Charles 
ton.  Having  been  informed,  when  on  board  the- 
vessel,  that  Captain  Gerry  was  a  son  of  the  im 
mortal  Elbridge  Gerry,  he  immediately  apolo 
gized  for  having,  in  a  letter  to  him,  written  his 
name  "Geary."  "It  was  the  fault,"  said  the 
Governor-General,  "  of  the  English  consul ;  for 
the  character  and  services  of  your  father  to  the 

9* 


202        LOSS   OF   THE   SLOOP-OF-WAR   ALBANY. 

whole  human  family  are  as  well-known  and  ap 
preciated  in  England  as  in  the  United  States ; 
and  I  am  proud  to  find  you,  sir,  his  son,  a  credit 
to  his  great  name  !" 

The  Albany  was  the  dispatch-ship  of  the  Home 
Squadron,  and  was  sent  by  Commander  Newton 
to  perform  nearly  all  the  business  between  our 
government  and  the  ports  she  was  ordered  to 
visit.  This  was  creditable  to  Gerry  as  an  officer 
and  negotiator. 

The  official  documents  at  the  Navy  Depart 
ment  show  an  extraordinary  amount  of  important 
duty  performed  by  Captain  Gerry,  as  commander 
of  the  Albany.  And,  in  July,  1853,  in  a  con 
tinuous  cruise  of  seventy-four  days,  exposed  to 
every  peril,  but  seven  had  been  spent  in  port ! 
When  in  a  sickly  port,  Captain  Gerry  usually 
went  ashore  alone,  sending  the  boats  back  to  the 
ship  ;  and,  by  this  prudence,  prevented  disease 
among  officers  and  crew.  During  the  whole 
term  that  the  Albany  was  under  command  of 
Captain  Gerry,  there  was  no  case  of  epidemic  or 
yellow  fever  on  board,  while  abroad,  though 
much  exposed  to  the  latter  disease  in  warm  lati 
tudes.  Many  of  the  officers  and  crew  were  often 
much  worn  down  from  too  constant  sea  service. 


LOSS   OF   THE   SLOOP-OF-WAR  ALBANY.       203 

The  utmost  deference  was  paid  to  religious  duties 
on  board,  and,  in  the  absence  of  a  chaplain,  Cap 
tain  Gerry  had  service  performed  on  the  Sabbath, 
in  the  usual  form  of  the  Protestant  Episcopal 
Church,  in  which  he  was  a  consistent  and  most 
exemplary  communicant,  when  called  to  sunder 
the  ties  of  earth  to  join  the  upper  service  of  his 
Heavenly  Master.  It  would  be  impracticable,  in 
a  work  like  this,  to  give  that  elaborate  history  of 
Captain  James  Thompson  Gerry,  that  his  charac 
ter  and  services  eminently  deserve.  But  we  are 
free  to  say,  in  brief,  that  no  officer  in  the  service 
ever  bore  a  more  irreproachable  reputation  for 
efficiency  and  devotion  to  duty,  and  for  that  high 
mental  and  moral  culture  which  gives  value  to 
the  officer,  and  dignity  and  worth  to  the  man. 

But  one  son  of  Elbridge  Gerry  now  survives, 
and  he  his  eldest,  who  bears  his  father's  name. 

Mr.  Gerry  is  now  a  resident  of  New  York  city. 
His  numerous  friends  bear  testimony  to  his  in 
tegrity  and  elevated  moral  worth,  and  to  his  hon 
orable  bearing  as  a  gentleman  ;  and  that  he  has, 
also,  emulated  the  virtues  of  his  father  through 
life.  And,  if  these  give  a  claim  to  respect,  he  is 
not  less  entitled  to  it  than  the  distinguished  rela 
tives  who  have  preceded  him. 


204       LOSS   OF   THE   SLOOP-OF-WAR   ALBANY. 

The  first-lieutenant  of  the  Albany,  William  N. 
Bleecker,  son  of  the  late  Alexander  Bleecker,  of 
New  York  city,  was  an  officer  eminently  deserv 
ing  of  praise.  His  life  had  been  one  of  danger 
and  vicissitude.  From  his  first  cruise,  in  the 
"Delaware,"  under  Commodore  Downs,  in  1828, 
to  his  last  service  in  the  Albany,  under  Com 
mander  Gerry,  in  1854,  he  visited  every  part  of 
the  known  world.  He  was  active  on  Mediterra 
nean,  Pacific,  Brazilian,  African,  and  East  India 
stations.  He  visited  China,  in  the  Brandywine, 
and,  during  the  Mexican  war,  he  participated  in 
the  capture  of  Alvarado,  Tuspan,  Tobasco,  and 
other  Mexican  ports,  in  the  flotilla  commanded 
by  Commodore  Perry.  He  had  been,  also,  the 
first  officer  of  the  United  States  steamer  "  Michi 
gan,"  under  command  of  Captain  Oscar  Bullus, 
whose  daughter  he  left  a  widow  in  charge  of  his 
orphan  child. 

It  is  a  singular  fact  that  this  prompt  and  effi 
cient  officer,  who  had  spent  the  greater  part  of 
his  naval  service  of  twenty-seven  years,  upon 
arduous  duty  afloat,  had  made  two  previous  cruises 
to  the  West  Indies  in  the  same  ship  in  which  he 
met  his  untimely  end. 


LOSS   OF   THE   SLOOP-OF-WAR   ALBANY.       205 

The  last  letters  of  Lieutenant  Bleecker  clearly 
forebode  his  fears,  that  the  Albany  could  never 
survive  the  terrific  gales,  so  frequent  at  that 
season,  in  the  Caribbean  Sea. 

The  letter  of  Lieutenant  Adams,  published  in 
the  newspapers,  at  the  time  her  loss  was  sur 
mised,  expressed  similar  apprehensions,  should 
they  encounter  a  hurricane. 

The  faithful  duties  of  Bleecker,  in  his  country's 
service,  will  ever  be  cherished  in  the  memory  of 
those  who  survive  him. 

In  that  priceless  cargo  consigned  to  the  ill- 
fated  Albany,  there  was  another  brave  though 
youthful  spirit,  who  deserves  more  than  an  ordi- 
nary  tribute  from  the  author. 

It  was  Nicholas  Fish  Morris,  son  of  Richard 
Lewis  Morris,  M.D.,  of  New  York.  His  mother, 
a  daughter  of  Colonel  Nicholas  Fish,  an  officer  of 
the  Revolution  and  aid-de-camp  to  Washington. 
Young  Morris  (whose  portrait  appears  in  this 
volume)  was  also  a  grandson  of  James  Morris,  of 
Morrisania,  and  great  grandson  of  General  Lewis 
Morris,  of  Morrisania,  likewise  of  revolutionary 
celebrity,  and  one  of  the  immortal  signers  of  the 
Declaration  of  Independence  ;  while,  on  his  mo- 


206        LOSS   OF   THE   SLOOP-OF-WAR   ALBANY. 

ther's  side,  he  was  a  lineal  descendant  of  Governor 
Petreus  Stuyvesant,  last  of  the  illustrious  line  of 
Dutch  Governors  of  New  York. 

With  an  ancestry  so  intimately  interwoveu 
with  the  history  of  their  country,  and  bearing  the 
name  of  a  grandfather  so  distinguished  in  the 
American  Revolution,  it  was  not  at  all  surprising 
that  young  Morris  should  evince  an  early  aspira 
tion  for  a  military  life.  As  his  education  pro 
gressed,  a  preference,  however,  was  given  for  the 
Navy  over  the  Army,  and  an  application  for  ad 
mission  into  the  Naval  School  at  Annapolis  was 
made  in  the  summer  of  1853.  It  resulted  in 
success,  and  the  papers  were  being  executed  when 
it  was  found  he  exceeded  by  a  few  months  the 
requisite  age,  and  this  ardent  and  impulsive 
youth  was  obliged  to  relinquish  the  cherished 
idea  of  his  mind. 

Just  about  this  period,  the  Albany  returned 
from  a  cruise,  under  the  command  of  Capt. 
Gerry,  who  tendered  to  young  Morris  the  posi 
tion  of  "Private  Secretary  to  the  Commander," 
which,  in  view  of  his  recent  disappointment  as 
well  as  the  prospective  advantages  it  presented, 
was  at  once  accepted. 

In  October  1853,  the  Albany  sailed  for  the 


LOSS   OF   THE   SLOOP-OF-WAR   ALBANY.        207 

Fishing  Banks,  and  returned  in  five  weeks,  by 
which  time  the  character  and  bearing  of  Morris 
had  won  for  him  the  confidence  and  admiration, 
not  only  of  Capt.  Gerry,  to  whom  he  was  a  com 
panion  and  friend,  but  of  all  the  gallant  officers 
of  the  ship  and  the  entire  crew. 

There  was  a  candor  and  frankness,  a  freedom 
from  all  compromise  of  principle,  united  with  a 
manliness  of  deportment  and  a  noble  daring  in 
action,  which  gave  singular  worth  to  this  remark 
able  youth.  Nicholas  Fish  Morris  was  indeed  a 
model,  which  may  with  great  propriety  be  pre 
sented,  not  only  to  the  youth  of  America,  but  to 
the  fathers  and  mothers  of  the  nation  !  Does  the 
reader  ask  why  ?  We  answer,  because  it  was  to 
the  united  action  of  his  parents,  their  precepts 
and  their  example,  that  made  deep,  unchanging, 
and  imperishable,  the  love  of  right,  which  his 
life  so  beautifully  illustrated.  How  often  does  it 
occur,  and  how  sincerely  is  it  to  be  deplored,  that 
the  mother's  influence  is  counteracted,  negatived, 
by  the  example  of  the  father !  How  many  of 
the  most  promising  geniuses  of  the  land  have 
thus  dated  their  fatal  mistakes !  It  was  other 
wise  with  Morris.  And  thus  was  he  early  led  to 
bow  before  the  altar  of  his  God,  and  trust  to 


208       LOSS  OF  THE  SLOOP-OF-WAR  ALBANY. 

the   all -sufficiency  of  that  Saviour  his   parents 
loved. 

His  correspondence  bears  testimony  to  his 
faithful  and  uninterrupted  continuance  in  the 
discharge  of  his  private  as  well  as  official  duties 
abroad.  And  friends  yet  survive  who  saw  him 
in  strange  lands,  engaged  in  that  greatest  and 
most  honorable  of  all  services,  doing  reverence 
to  his  Heavenly  Master,  upon  his  bended  knees. 

An  inherited  love  of  country  made  this  gene 
rous,  disinterested,  and  ingenuous  young  Ameri 
can  anxious  to  defend  and  vindicate  our  nation 
ality  abroad  ;  and,  in  1854,  when  the  invasion 
of  Cuba  upon  the  rights  of  American  citizens, 
imminently  threatened  war,  as  the  only  means 
of  redress,  this  true  and  youthful  patriot  thus 
gave  expression  to  his  natural  and  national  fer 
vor  :  "I  most  heartily  wish  there  may  be  war, 
that  I  may  have  a  chance  of  dying  with  honor, 
perhaps,  great  honor,  in  my  young  days,  for  the 
glory  of  my  country  and  the  rights  of  her  citi 
zens  !" 

In  making  these  few  remarks  of  young  Morris, 
we  could  wish  that  every  youth  in  our  country, 
who  aspires  to  an  honorable  and  virtuous  fame, 
was  familiar  with  his  brief  but  beautiful  career. 


THE  CULPABILITY  INVOLVED 


IN   THE 


LOSS    OF    THE    ALBANY. 


CHAPTER    I. 

THE  next  question 'which  presents  itself,  is,  by 
whom  or  under  what  circumstances,  did  it  become 
necessary  to  expose  the  Albany,  with  her  pre 
cious  cargo  of  upwards  of  two  hundred  souls,  to 
those  perilous  seas,  in  which  she  was  engulfed  ? 
In  this  question,  not  only  are  the  relatives  and 
friends  of  the  worthy  deceased  interested,  but  the 
whole  country,  nay,  humanity  itself !  The  author 
feels,  therefore,  called  in  this  connection,  to  en 
lighten  the  country  upon  the  subject,  and  to 
expose  the  shameful,  reckless  manner  in  which 
these  matters  are  managed  by  the  department, 
placing  the  lives  of  the  best  citizens  at  the  mercy 
and  caprice  of  ignorant  chief  clerks,  and  weak 
officials. 


209 


210        LOSS   OF   THE    SLOOP-OF-WAR   ALBANY. 

And  after  a  thorough  and  careful  examination 
of  all  the  documents  and  evidence  the  case  fur 
nishes,  the  author  unhesitatingly  declares  it  to  be 
her  conviction,  that  the  blood  of  these  unfortu 
nate  victims,  the  odium  of  their  cruel  fate,  rests 
upon  the  heads  of  John  C.  Dobbin,  Secretary  of 
the  Navy,  and  John  Thomas  Newton,  who  com 
manded  the  Home  Squadron,  as  she  will  show. 

In  the  fall  of  1853,  while  the  Albany  was  in 
the  port  of  New  York,  public  notice  was  given  to 
officers  and  crew,  by  the  Secretary  of  the  Navy, 
through  Commodore  Newton,  that  the  ship  would 
return  to  New  York  early  in  the  summer  of  the 
ensuing  year.  And  it  was  under  the  supposed 
good  faith  of  this  official  assurance,  that  no  fur 
ther  duty  would  be  imposed,  to  exceed  the  time 
specified  by  the  Secretary  of  the  Navy,  through 
Newton,  that  these  gallant  and  true  men  bade 
adieu  to  their  cherished  homes,  their  sorrowing 
families  and  friends,  to  engage  in  the  honorable 
service  to  which  they  were  called  by  their  coun 
try. 

In  May,  1854,  the  main-mast  of  the  Albany 
was  condemned  at  the  navy  yard,  Warrington, 
Florida,  and  the  Secretary  of  the  Navy  was  im 
mediately  apprised  of  the  fact,  by  Commander 


LOSS  OF  THE   SLOOP-OF-WAR   ALBANY.        211 

Gerry,  pending  a  critical  illness  of  Commodore 
Tatnall  of  that  station.  The  Secretary  ordered 
the  repair  to  be  made.  But,  after  finding  the 
lower  masts  of  a  first-class  sloop,  as  ordered, 
altogether  too  small,  it  was  done  by  taking  the 
foremast  of  a  second-class  frigate  !  And  hence, 
after  mending  and  patching,  one  was  found  to 
answer  the  Albany's  purpose,  "  at  small  expense  !" 
After  this  patch  on  the  Albany  had  caused  about 
seven  official  letters,  it  was  formally  approved  at 
the  Department! 

It  is  perfectly  well  known,  that  there  were  not 
mechanics  enough  in  the  navy  yard  at  Warring- 
ton,  to  put  extensive  repairs  on  any  ship,  during 
the  time  the  "Albany  "  was  there. 

On  June  10th,  1854,  the  Secretary  addressed 
Commodore  Newton,  and  required  him  "  to  direct 
the  movements  of  the  Albany  and  Columbia"  And 
on  the  17th  of  June,  1854,  Mr.  Dobbin  tells  New 
ton,  by  official  letter,  that  one  of  the  vessels  of 
the  Home  Squadron,  meaning  his  vessel,  or  that 
in  command  of  Captain  Gerry,  must  go  to  Turk's 
Island  on  public  business.  Then  Newton,  instead 
of  going  himself,  exercised  the  very  discretionary 
power  vested  in  him  by  Secretary  Dobbin,  and 


212       LOSS   OF   THE   SLOOP-OP-WAR   ALBANY. 

immediately  issued  orders  to  Captain  Gerry,  to 
proceed  there  with  the  Albany  ! 

Capt.  Gerry  then  left  Pensacola,  fulfilled  to  the 
letter  the  instructions  of  Newton,  and  after  dis 
patching  the  business  for  which  he  went  to 
Turk's  Island,  joined  Newton,  as  directed,  at  St. 
Domingo,  under  the  confident  expectation  of  pro 
ceeding  at  once  to  New  York !  But  Newton  had 
other  service  than  that  for  these  gallant  officers 
and  men,  and  to  their  great  surprise,  and  in  vio 
lation  of  all  faith  between  the  government  and 
these  two  hundred  American  citizens,  and  in  the 
very  teeth  of  the  department's  assurance  to  these 
officers  and  crew  before  they  sailed  out  of  the 
port  of  New  York,  that  they  should  return  early 
in  the  summer  of  1855,  we  find  near  its  close,  an 
official  letter  from  Newton  to  Captain  Gerry, 
dated  at  the  Gulf  of  Samana,  the  llth  of  August, 
1855,  ordering  the  Albany  "  to  proceed  dire'ct  to 
Laguira,  thence  to  the  Island  of  Curacoa,  to  Car- 
thagena,  and  to  Aspinwall."  And  "to  take  care 
of  our  flag  upon  the  whole  coast  of  Central 
America !"  In  this  letter  to  Commander  Gerry, 
Newton  adds,  and  mark  it,  Americans,  that  "  as 
you  have  represented  to  me  that  the  '  Albany  *  is 


LOSS  OP   THE   SLOOP-OP-WAR  ALBANY.       213 

DEFECTIVE  IN  MANY  PARTS,  and  that  EXTENSIVE  RE 
PAIRS  will  be  required  upon  her  before  she  can  with 
safety  take  another  cruise,  you  will  return,  after 
having  performed  the  duty  assigned  you  in  this  com- 
munication,  to  the  harbor  of  New  York,  and  on 
your  arrival  there,  report  to  the  Department." 

It  was,  at  the  time  this  order  was  given, 
too  late  for  the  Albany  to  have  been  in  those 
seas.  To  this  letter,  we  find  a  supplementary 
one  from  Newton  to  Capt  Gerry,  bearing  same 
date  (fearing  he  had  not,  we  suppose,  sufficiently 
endangered  this  rotten,  unseaworthy  vessel),  in 
which  the  Albany  is  directed  to  touch  at  the 
island  of  St.  Thomas,  and  hunt  up  some  sus 
picious  vessel,  seen  to  be  hovering  near  the 
island  of  Porto  Rico,  merely  on  the  supposition 
that  it  was  a  piratical  craft. 

To  these  instructions  of  Newton  to  Captain 
Q-erry,  Secretary  Dobbin  responds,  and  declares 
to  Newton,  they  "are  approved!" 

Yes,  Americans,  without  the  slightest  regard 
to  the  integrity  of  their  minds,  these  two  men 
trifled  with  the  lives  of  upwards  of  two  hundred 
human  souls,  embracing  much  of  the  high-toned 
chivalry  of  the  country,  and  by  the  most  arbitrary 
and  despotic  action  on  their  part,  forced  a  vessel, 


214        LOSS    OF    THE    SLOOP-OF-WAR   ALBANY. 

they  knew  to  be  defective,  in  many  parts,  into  tem 
pestuous  seas  and  hurricanes,  by  which  she  was 
destroyed,  or  perchance  to  engage  in  battle  with 
a  powerful  adversary ! 

The  order  from  the  Navy  Department  for  that 
cruise  which  has  called  the  nation  to  mourn  the 
loss  of  the  Albany,  was  a  perfect  outrage,  a  scan 
dalous  duty  to  have  imposed  upon  the  Home 
Squadron,  under  any  circumstances,  at  a  season 
of  the  year  when  sickness  prevailed  in  those  ports, 
and  where  the  gales  and  hurricanes  endangered 
the  most  substantial  frigate,  much  more  a  rotten, 
patched-up  sloop-of-war,  with  twenty-two  heavy 
guns  on  her  decks ! 

So  thought  Newton,  and  therefore  chose  to  sac 
rifice  the  "Albany,"  all  crippled,  as  he  acknow 
ledged  her  to  be,  rather  than  take  the  risk  in  the 
Frigate  Columbia,  which  was  in  fine  order  (need 
ing  no  repairs),  as  it  was  his  duty  to  have  done, 
and  as  the  orders  from  the  Department  required 
him  to  do.  By  the  showing  of  the  documents, 
Newton  was  ordered  on  this  cruise,  but  he  did 
not  choose  so  to  expose  himself  to  danger !  And, 
with  the  fact  of  the  "Albany's"  sad  condition, 
he  sent  her  whence  she  could  never  return ! 

What  excuse  does  Newton  offer,  for  his  viola- 


LOSS   OF   THE    SLOOP-OF-WAR   ALBANY.        215 

tion  of  duty  ?  We  answer,  one  as  specious  as  it 
is  most  untrue!  "I  had  intended,"  says  this 
Commodore,  "to  go  myself,  but  could  not  on 
account  of  shortness  of  provisions." 

Reader,  note  this,  that  Newton  had  in  his  ship, 
the  same  relative  quantity  of  provisions  as  was 
at  that  time  in  the  Albany  !  And  he  ordered  the 
Albany  to  proceed  to  St.  Thomas  for  bread  and 
provisions,  which  were  obtained  there  without 
difficulty.  Now,  why  did  Newton  take  advantage 
of  this  miserable  subterfuge  in  order  to  shirk 
danger  and  return  home  ?  Why  not  have  gone 
himself  for  this  bread  and  provision,  and  thus 
have  removed  the  only  excuse  he  pretended  to 
offer? 

One  of  the  very  first  duties  of  a  commodore  is 
to  know  where  provisions  and  supplies  can  be  had, 
at  every  point  of  his  station,  and  their  cost.  And 
as  the  town  of  Aspinwall  was  one  to  which  a 
mail  was  sent  twice  a  month,  he  could  not  have 
been  ignorant  of  the  fact,  which  Commander 
Gerry  reported  when  he  reached  there,  that  pro 
visions  of  all  kinds  were  in  abundance,  at  ordi 
nary  prices. 

No  provisions !  mark  this !  every  pound  of 
food  in  the  whole  squadron  was  Newton's.  And 


216        LOSS   OF   THE   SLOOP-OF-WAR   ALBANY. 

by  sending  his  boats  to  the  "Albany,"  he  could 
have  taken  all  her  provisions  had  he  chosen,  and 
sent  her  to  St.  Thomas  to  be  replenished,  which 
was  within  three  day's  sail,  and  then  sent  her 
home  to  New  York  in  good  season.  This  it  was 
Newton's  duty  to  have  done,  as  the  crippled  con 
dition  of  the  Albany  rendered  every  precaution 
essential  to  save  her  from  the  hurricane  season. 

But  some  may  ask,  "  Had  not  Dobbin  and 
Newton  the  right  to  exercise  this  imperious  au 
thority  over  the  :  Albany  ?"  They  would  have 
had,  under  a  different  state  of  facts,  if  they  had 
not  both  known  of  the  Albany's  unfitness  for  sea 
in  hurricane  season,  as  there  is  the  most  unques 
tioned  proof  that  they  did  !  Captain  Gerry  thought 
the  ship  safe  for  the  summer  weather,  and  expect 
ing  to  return  to  New  York  from  Turk's  Island,  he 
informed  Newton,  before  sailing  from  Pensacola, 
that  the  ship  was  ready  for  sea,  in  all  respects. 
But,  when  he  got  the  order  of  August  llth,  to 
extend  his  cruise  from  two  and  a  half  months  to 
three  months  longer,  thus  carrying  him  into  the 
hurricane  season,  and  the  tempestuous  weather 
on  the  Atlantic  coast,  he  deemed  it  his  duty  to 
represent  to  Newton  that  the  ship  was,  in  many 
parts,  defective,  and  not  safe,  therefore,  to  be  sent 


LOSS   OF   THE   SLOOP-OF-WAR   ALBANY.        217 

on  such  a  cruise  as  Newton  communicates  in  his 
dispatches.  This  warning  Newton  entirely  disre 
garded,  and  sent  the  ship,  notwithstanding  this 
representation  from  Captain  Gerry  ! 

Like  a  gallant  and  disciplined  officer,  Gerry 
obeyed  that  fatal  order !  At  this  time,  the  ship 
had  sailed  about  thirty-seven  thousand  miles, 
without  going  into  dry  dock  for  repairs  !  But,  as 
though  the  above  order  might  not,  even  then, 
detain  the  Albany  long  enough,  we  find  another 
and  a  subsequent  one,  dated  September  2d,  1854, 
from  the  Department  to  Newton,  directing  him, 
if  practicable,  to  instruct  Commander  Gerry, 
after  he  completed  the  cruise  along  the  coast  of 
Central  America,  as  just  indicated,  to  enter  the 
port  of  Portsmouth,  N.  H.,  unless  the  cruise  was 
protracted  beyond  the  last  of  October  !  All  this, 
bear  in  memory,  was  with  Dobbin's  full  know 
ledge,  that  the  ship  was  not  safe,  on  account  of 
being  "  defective  in  many  parts."  This  order, 
had  it  been  carried  into  effect,  might  have  sub 
jected  the  ship  to  the  boisterous  weather  of  No 
vember,  that  any  well-informed  landsman  would 
know,  must  endanger  a  vessel,  however  staunch, 
to  severe  trial  on  our  coast.  All  this  should  teach 
the  American  people  how  important  it  is  to  se- 

10 


218        LOSS   OF   THE   SLOOP-OF-WAR   ALBANY. 

lect  men  of  fitness  for  the  high  and  responsible 
duties  of  administering  our  national  government ; 
not  men  devoid  of  all  qualifications,  save  that  of 
being  party  politicians  ;  while  the  nation  mourns 
for  the  want  of  practical,  efficient  men  ;  men, 
who  are  capable  of  investigating  for  themselves 
the  business  of  their  respective  departments,  in 
stead  of  confiding  it  to  the  chief  clerks  who  are, 
de  facto,  the  administrators  of  our  national  affairs. 


CHAPTER  II. 

WHEN  the  Albany  left  Pensacola,  Commodore 
Tatnall,  at  that  station,  placed  a  valuable  service 
of  silver  on  board  of  her,  from  the  generally  re 
ceived  understanding  that  the  ship  was  bound  to 
New  York,  after  having  dispatched  official  busi 
ness  at  Turk's  Island  ;  and  to  arrive  in  the  fol 
lowing  July  or  August,  which  he  believed  would 
be  earlier  than  he  could  carry  it  himself. 
During  the  whole  period  the  Albany  was  at 
tached  to  the  Home  Squadron,  she  must  have 
sailed  about  forty  thousand  miles,  while  the 
Columbia  could  not  have  exceeded  ten  or  twelve 
thousand  miles!  The  rest  of  the  time  Newton 
was  in  port ! 

When  it  is  remembered  that  Elbridge  Gerry 
was  the  first  American  who  suggested  a  navy  for 
this  country,  and,  in  the  Legislature  of  Massa 
chusetts,  proposed  that  letters  of  marque  should 
be  issued  by  our  government  to  the  merchant 

919 


220        LOSS   OF   THE   SLOOP-OF-WAR   ALBANY. 

vessels  for  their  protection,  it  does  seem  deplor 
able  that  his  own  son  should  have  lost  his  life 
while  in  the  active  discharge  of  his  duties  to  that 
service,  by  the  mal-administration  of  an  incom 
petent  Secretary  and  Commodore  !  A  Secretary 
who  left  the  valuable  lives  of  officers  and  crew, 
who  looked  to  him  for  protection  in  the  discretion 
of  his  orders,  to  the  dictation  of  an  irresponsible 
chief  clerk  in  the  department.  This  clerk  calls 
on  the  Secretary  to  sign  his  orders ! 

While  Mr.  Jefferson  was  most  zealously  oppos 
ing  the  institution  of  our  navy,  it  is  well  known 
that  Mr.  Gerry  was  strenuously  engaged  in  ad 
vocating  its  formation. 

In  1854,  Newton,  when  at  Pensacola,  was  or 
dered  to  sail  to  San  Juan  in  the  Columbia,  when 
he  wrote  to  the  Department  that  it  was  as  much 
as  the  lives  of  officers  and  crew  were  worth  to 
go  there,  as  it  was  so  sickly.  He  was,  for  this 
evidence  of  timidity  in  the  performance  of  the 
duty  assigned  him,  about  to  be  detached  from 
command  of  the  squadron,  when  he  was,  most 
fortunately  for  himself,  taken  ill  with  some  dan 
gerous  disease,  at  Pensacola,  a  casualty  he  so 
much  feared  might  befall  him  if  he  proceeded 
to  San  Juan.  Thus  sick,  he  was  brought  home 

7  o 


LOSS   OP   THE    SLOOP-OF-WAR   ALBANY.        221 

to  New  York,  in  the  Albany,  under  command  of 
Captain  Gerry,  and,  thereby,  his  life  was  saved ! 
Was  it  for  this  act  of  kindness  towards  Newton 
that  Gerry  afterwards  was  made  a  victim  to 
his  unscrupulous  selfishness  ?  Was  the  obliga 
tion,  imposed  by  kindness,  of  such  a  nature  as  to 
become  an  offense  which  Newton  could  not  for 
give  ? 

In  1854,  Newton  had  over  seventy  cases  of 
yellow  fever  aboard  the  Columbia,  and  in  the 
succeeding  year  '55,  when  he  returned  from  an 
other  visit  to  Saint  Thomas,  which  port  he  was 
obliged  to  leave  in  consequence  of  the  yellow 
fever  being  on  board  again,  he  had  sixty  cases  of 
this  malignant  disease  on  arriving  at  Norfolk, 
where  he  was  relieved  from  his  command.  And 
in  this  the  whole  country  may  rejoice  that  the 
further  loss  of  human  life  under  his  instrumen 
tality  has,  for  a  time,  been  arrested. 

The  antecedents  of  Newton  may  now,  with 
much  propriety,  be  investigated,  inasmuch  as, 
.  with  all  his  long  and  black  catalogue  of  misde 
meanors,  he  has  been  one  of  the  favored  of  the 
Secretary  of  the  Navy  and  that  official's  ' '  navy 
retiring  board."  About  the  year  1820,  Newton 
was  sent  to  Norfolk  in  a  chartered  vessel,  with  a 


222        LOSS   OF   THE   SLOOP-OF-WAR   ALBANY. 

draft  of  men  under  his  charge.  The  vessel  got 
aground  at  the  mouth  of  the  Potomac,  in  the 
Chesapeake  Bay,  and  a  gale  coming  on,  he  or 
dered  a  boat,  under  the  plea  of  obtaining  assist 
ance,  to  set  him  on  shore.  He  proceeded  to  New 
York  directly,  and  the  vessel  and  all  on  board 
were  left  to  their  fate  and  perished  ! 

Between  the  years  1825  and  1830  Newton 
was  in  command  of  a  small  brig,  and  while  cruis 
ing  off  the  Havana,  with  an  open  barge  in 
company,  commanded  by  a  son  of  the  present 
venerable  Consul  of  the  United  States  at  Ja 
maica,  West  Indies,  a  sudden  norther  arose  about 
nightfall.  Instead  of  taking  the  officers  and  men 
on  board  his  own  vessel,  and  abandoning  this 
miserable  craft,  he  cut  the  ropes  by  which  she 
was  in  tow,  and  all  hands  in  her  that  fearful 
night  went  to  the  bottom !  Thus,  either  from 
entire  nautical  ignorance,  or  from  a  reckless  dis 
regard  for  the  fate  of  others,  fifteen  or  twenty 
lives  were  destroyed  at  a  blow ! 

We  are  not  informed  that  any  investigation  of 
the  circumstances  of  this  case  ever  took  place. 

Subsequently,  about  1830,  John  Thomas  New 
ton  became  a  commander  or  master  commandant. 
He  was  put  in  command  of  the  United  States 


LOSS  OP   THE   SLOOP-OF-WAR   ALBANY.       223 

eteamer  Fulton,  being  the  first  United  States 
steamer  built  by  that  name. 

She  was  employed  as  a  receiving  vessel  at  the 
United  States  Navy  Yard,  New  York.  Either  by 
accident,  caused  by  drunkenness  of  the  gunner, 
or  by  some  negligence,  her  magazine  was  fired, 
and  the  ship  blown  up.  Many  officers  and  men 
perished  by  the  explosion  ;  at  least  seventy  lives 
were  reported  to  have  been  lost ! 

Among  these  there  was  a  promising  officer  by 
the  name  of  Breckenridge.  Lieut.  Platt  nearly 
lost  his  sight.  And  a  number  of  the  survivors 
were  maimed  for  life. 

But  amidst  this  frightful  havoc  Newton  sur 
vived,  and  we  next  find  him  in  command  of 
a  sloop-of-war !  And  in  1840  he  was  put  upon 
duty  in  the  steamer  Fulton,  the  second  of  that 
name !  And  soon  she  became  notorious  by  the 
bursting  of  a  gun  on  board,  which  killed  and 
maimed  several  men  !  He  next  commanded  the 
steam  frigate  Missouri,  the  finest  ship,  at  that  time, 
in  the  Navy,  being  entirely  new  and  well  fitted 
for  sea.  Before  leaving  the  waters  of  the  East 
River,  a  man  was  lost  from  her  deck  by  allowing 
the  cable  to  slip  through  the  stoppers,  as  he  was 
in  the  act  of  hooking  the  "  cat-block."  The  an- 


224       LOSS   OP   THE  SLOOP-OF-WAR   ALBANY. 

chor  went  down,  of  course,  and  carried  this  victim 
with  it !  A  few  days  after  this  the  Missouri,  in 
ascending  the  Potomac,  was  run  ashore  ;  and  in 
talcing  out  her  anchor,  for  the  purpose  of  hauling 
her  off,  by  some  mismanagement,  it  slipped,  and 
carried  both  boats  in  which  the  anchor  was 
placed,  with  their  crews,  to  the  bottom.  In 
this  disaster  a  lieutenant  and  seventeen  men 
perished ! 

Following  the  brief  career  of  this  ill-fated 
vessel,  under  Newton's  command,  we  find  her 
again  ashore  on  the  south  Nantucket  shoal ! 
Shortly  after  these  three  serious  and  fatal  trou 
bles  of  the  Missouri,  Newton  left  the  United 
States  with  her  for  Alexandria,  in  Egypt,  for  the 
purpose  of  landing  Mr.  Gushing,  who  was  on  his 
way,  as  commissioner,  to  China.  And,  to  close 
Newton's  brilliant  command  in  this  ship,  she  took 
fire  while  at  Gibraltar,  and  so  rapid  was  her 
destruction,  that  she  soon  disappeared  in  a  blaze  ! 

For  this  act  of  carelessness  Newton  was  con 
victed,  and  a  nominal  punishment  passed  upon 
him ;  but  even  a  portion  of  that  was  said  after 
wards  to  have  been  remitted. 

From  the  data  we  have  given,  it  is  not  an 
over-estimate  to  say  that  Newton,  by  his  reck- 


LOSS   OF   THE   SLOOP-OF-WAR   ALBANY.        225 

lessness,  has  caused  the  loss  of  about  three  hun 
dred  and  twenty  lives  in  the  navy — equal  to  all 
the  "killed"  in  action  on  the  American  side,  in 
the  naval  war  with  Great  Britain ! — while,  in  a 
pecuniary  view,  he  has  occasioned  destruction  of 
property  to  the  government  of  the  United  States 
of  between  one  and  two  millions  of  dollars  ! 

We  wish  particularly  now  to  direct  the  read 
er's  attention  to  the  conduct  of  Mr.  Dobbin,  the 
present  Secretary  of  the  Navy,  in  connection 
with  Newton's  conduct  subsequent  to  the  loss  of 
the  Albany. 

It  did  not  seem  to  have  occurred  to  the  sym 
pathising  Secretary  to  institute  a  public  scrutiny 
into  Newton's  action  in  directing  the  fatal  cruise 
of  that  ship  ;  nor  even  a  private  one,  that  we 
have  heard,  until,  for  some  reason  that  does  not 
manifest  itself,  the  Department  drew  forth  the 
following  letter  from  Newton,  dated  June  20th, 
1855,  long  after  the  publication  of  the  docu 
ments  which  were  elicited  by  a  call  from  the 
U.  S.  Senate. 

The  Secretary,  on  the  4th  of  June,  1855, 
made  inquiry  of  Newton  for  "a  copy  of  the 
communication  written  to  him,  Newton,  by  Com 
mander  Gerry."  That  was  eight  mouths  after 

9* 


226       LOSS  OF   THE  SLOOP-OF-WAR  ALBANY. 

the  ship  was  missing.  Mr.  Dobbin,  it  appears, 
was  under  the  impression  that  no  written  "  com 
munication  "  was  made  ;  but  it  really  had  not 
been  of  sufficient  consequence  in  his  mind  to 
make  this  investigation  before. 

To  this  letter  Newton  said  in  reply  :  "  I  have 
to  state,  the  communication  referred  to  was  made 
to  me  during  a  conversation  with  that  officer,  on 
board  the  Columbia,  while  at  Samana  Bay,  in 
August  last.  He  observed  to  me  that  he  thought 
the  "  Albany  "  would  require  extensive  repairs 
before  she  returned  from  the  North  again  to  re 
join  her  station  in  the  West  Indies  for  another 


qruise." 


Americans,  which  statement  will  you  take  from 
Newton  as  correct — that  written  at  Samana,  the 
llth  of  August,,  the  day  he  gave  the  order,  or 
that  written  from  Staten  Island,  New  York,  ten 
months  later,  giving  an  entirely  different  version 
of  the  matter  ?  At  Samana  he  stated  to  the  de 
partment  that  the  ut  Albany'  was  defective  in 
many  parts,  and  required  extensive  repairs,  and 
was  not  safe  to  take  another  cruise."  In  the 
face  of  this  report  he  orders  her  on  a  voyage  that 
might  detain  her  from  three  to  four  months. 
But  when  she  was  lost,  that  statement  did  not 

T  U  -     »? 


LOSS   OF   THE  SLOOP-OF-WAR   ALBANY.       227 

answer  the  desperate  state  of  the  Commodore's 
position.  Hence  we  see  the  Staten  Island  letter 
to  be  a  flat  denial  of  the  Samana  letter. 

We  know  that  Captain  Gerry  did  remonstrate 
against  taking  that  extended  cruise  around  Cen 
tral  America.  It  was  then  that  he  urged  the 
necessity  of  proceeding  direct  to  New  York  ;  and 
the  very  remark  Newton  ascribes  to  Gerry,  in 
his  Staten  Island  letter,  proves  that  he  did. 

The  attempt  to  circulate  the  idea  which  is  be 
lieved  to  have  been  started  from  the  Department, 
that  Gerry  could  wish  under  any  such  circum 
stances  to  have  extended  his  cruise,  is  now  re 
futed  by  Newton's  own  language. 

But  suppose,  for  the  sake  of  argument,  that 
Captain  Gerry  did  request  the  Secretary  of  the 
Navy  to  keep  the  ship  out  through  the  whole 
year,  had  the  Secretary  and  Newton  the  right  to 
risk  the  lives  of  those  on  board,  and  jeopardize 
the  public  property,  merely  to  oblige  Captain 
Gerry  ?  It  is  too  absurd  a  proposition  to  be  en 
tertained  for  a  moment. 

In  concluding  this  very  remarkable  Staten 
Island  letter,  Newton  says  :  "I  enclose  herewith 
a  copy  of  a  letter  from  Commander  Gerry,  dated 
Pensacola,  June  15th,  1854,  which  the  Depart- 


228       LOSS   OF   THE   SLOOP-OF-WAR   ALBANY. 

ment  may  wish  to  have.  It  will  be  recollected 
that  the  Albany  underwent  repairs  at  that  sta 
tion,  and  Commander  Gerry  reports  her  being  in 
all  respects  ready  for  sea,  and  provisioned  for 
three  months  and  a  half." 

This  was  stated  by  Newton  on  this  occasion,  to 
leave  the  impression  upon  the  public  mind  that 
she  was  safe  for  any  voyage,  however  long.  Now 
it  is  well  known  that  in  the  usual  manner  of  issu 
ing  an  order  to  proceed  on  any  cruise,  these  words 
are  usually  employed  :  "  When  you  are  in  all  re 
spects  ready  for  sea,  etc.,  you  will  proceed  to 
execute,  etc."  It  matters  not  what  may  be  the 
condition  of  the  ship,  the  response  is  given  as 
we  quote  above,  in  all  cases,  and  did  not  apply 
to  the  condition  of  the  Albany,  as  ready  for  a 
cruise  of  any  indefinite  length.  Beside,  this  was 
written  two  months  before  the  order  was  given 
at  Samana,  and  the  Albany  could  not  then  have 
had  but  six  weeks'  provisions — the  same  relative 
quantity  Newton  had,  by  his  own  showing ! 


CHAPTER  III. 

NEWTON  wrote  to  the  department,  that  "  the 
Albany  was,  in  many  respects,  defective,"  on  the 
same  day  and  in  the  same  letter  that  informed 
the  Department  he  had  ordered  her  on  this  un 
justifiable  cruise ! 

The  letter  of  Gerry,  in  the  official  documents 
from  Pensacola,  to  which  we  have  alluded,  does 
not  express  what  Newton  attempts  to  convey  by 
it ;  for  these  same  documents  report  that  both 
masts  were  then  defective,  but  only  one  was 
taken  out  and  the  other  left  in.  Why  ?  Because 
it  was  supposed  that  she  would  return  in  smooth 
summer  weather  to  New  York,  as  formal  notice 
to  that  effect  had  been  given  by  the  department. 
It  was  Newton's  duty  at  Samana  to  have  had  the 
ship  at  once  surveyed  after  the  information  com 
municated  by  Gerry,  before  sending  Ijer  on  a 
dangerous  survey. 

This  is  a  significant  fact,  which  shows  again  that 
the  nation  needs  men  who  practically  do  their 


229 


230       LOSS   OF   THE   SLOOP-OF-WAR   ALBANY. 

duty  in  office.  Mr.  Dobbin,  on  being  shown  the 
official  document  which  stated  the  Albany  was 
defective,  and  not  fit  for  the- cruise,  acknowledged 
to  a  Senator*  that  he  had  not  noticed  it  before, 
although,  be  it  remembered,  he  had  already  officially 
approved  the  very  order !  When  the  senator 
apprised  him,  he  expressed  great  astonishment, 
and  declared  he  never  knew  the  fact  before, 
alleging  in  extenuation  that  the  papers  were 
rarely  seen,  as  they  were,  when  received,  filed 
away  in  the  office.  And  the  subsequent  order, 
dated  in  September,  was  given  to  keep  the  ship 
out  still  longer,  by  ordering  her  to  Portsmouth, 
New  Hampshire.  The  truth  is,  Mr.  Dobbin  had 
his  line  of  action  in  this  matter  overruled  by  the 
same  influence  that  selected  and  controlled  the 
"  Navy  Retiring  Board."  To  these  conspirators 
Newton  seemed  in  all  respects  a  marvellously 
proper  man  ;  so  the  Secretary  must,  of  course, 
favor  him  in  his  unofficerlike  and  inhuman  eon- 
duct  towards  the  Albany,  and  not  only  accepted 
his  flimsy  and  self-contradictory  letter  of  expla 
nation,  but  allowed  his  retention  on  the  active 
list  of  the  Navy  by  that  Board,  who  disrated  or 

*  Hon.  Hamilton  Fish,  of  New  York,  is  the  senator  to  whom  we 
refer. 


LOSS   OF   THE    SLOOP-OF-WAR   ALBANY.        231 

dropped  from  it  men  of  the  highest  efficiency  to 
duty,  and  against  whom  no  charges  are  to  be 
found  in  the  Department.  The  conduct  of  Mr. 
Dobbin  is  even  more  reprehensible  in  the  case  of 
Newton  than  in  that  of  Stribling,  whose  total 
neglect  of  his  duties  on  board  the  San  Jacinto 
was  not  only  overlooked,  but  actually  rewarded 
by  a  seat  in  the  "  Navy  Retiring  Board."  And 
Newton  was  appointed  to  the  command  of  a 
naval  station  soon  after  he  was  relieved  from  the 
Columbia — thus  rewarding  him  in  a  similar  man 
ner  to  Stribling. 


• 


THE  AMERICAN  NAVY. 


CHAPTER    I. 

THE  honor  of  the  country  is  borne  by  its  good 
men ; — they  who  dishonor  these  dishonor  their 
country. 

The  Navy  of  the  United  States,  as  a  question 
of  international  policy,  was  never  so  important  to 
the  American  people  as  now  ;  and  it  is  lamenta 
ble  to  have  seen  the  President  of  the  United  States 
strike  a  blow  at  this  great  arm  of  the  public  ser 
vice,  and,  so  far  as  he  could,  destroy  the  interest, 
the  glory,  and  the  moral  strength,  of  the  United 
States,  in  every  ocean  and  clime. 

For  years,  foreign  governments  have  been  stead 
ily  increasing  their  navies,  and  menacing  Ameri 
cans  who  have  sought  to  maintain  the  dignity  of 
their  nation  abroad.  Nothing  but  this  superior 


THE   AMEKICAN   NAVY.  233 

naval  strength  induced  England  to  defy  the 
proclamation  of  the  Monroe  doctrine  by  this  gov 
ernment,  and  establish  the  colony  of  the  Bay  Islands, 
which  has  since  involved  the  United  States  in 
troublesome  negotiations.  But  for  this,  Spain 
would  never  have  attempted  her  outrages  upon 
American  steamers,  nor  France  have  treated  our 
protest  against  her  occupancy  of  Sonora  with 
contempt. 

Our  territory  on  the  Pacific  has  since  made  the 
navy  still  more  important  to  our  commerce,  in  order 
to  protect  the  shipping  of  our  enterprising  men,  and 
give  a  new  impulse  to  trade  upon  that  coast.  In 
the  event  of  war,  it  is  upon  the  navy  alone  we 
could  rely  to  scour  our  seas,  and  prevent  a  foreign 
fleet  from  penetrating  the  rivers  and  harbors  on 
our  coast. 

The  law  which  passed  at  the  end  of  the  session 
of  Congress  in  1855,  in  reference  to  the  navy,  was 
not  only  ex  post  facto,  but  a  fraud  upon  legislation 
and  the  American  policy.  Senators  have  admitted 
that  they  knew  nothing  about  it.  If  a  few  days 
had  been  given  to  its  proper  consideration,  the 
navy  would  not  now  be  bereft  of  its  chivalry  and 
honor,  the  families  of  gallant  men  would  not 


234  THE   AMERICAN   NAVY. 

now  be  reduced  to,  penury,  while  the  government 
would  have  been  saved  the  thousands  of  dollars 
expended  in  the  discussion  of  the  outrage,  and 
devising  methods  of  reparation.  More  money  will 
be  thus  expended,  before  this  evil  is  rectified,  than 
would  have  paid  the  pitiful  stipend  of  these  two 
hundred  and  one  officers  the  next  twenty  years. 

The  law  which  passed  Congress,  Americans,  to 
reorganize  the  navy,  on  the  28th  of  February,  1855, 
had  no  more  to  do  with  our  constitution  than  it 
had  with  the  articles  of  our  old  Confederation. 
Does  the  sacred  bond  and  covenant  of  our  freedom 
allow  a  man  to  be  punished  prospectively  for  his 
inefficiency  in  times  past  ?  Can  it  prevent  a  man 
from  pursuing  any  honest  calling,  by  cutting  down 
his  present  means  of  support,  and  yet  holding  on 
to  the  right  of  his  personal  services  ?  It  cannot. 
But,  in  the  very  face  of  this,  this  act,  which  the 
imbecility  of  the  President  and  Secretary  of  the 
Navy  has  executed,  does  render  an  officer  fur- 
loughed  liable,  at  any  moment,  to  be  summoned 
on  government  duty,  and  oblige  him  to  forfeit  any 
other  interest  or  engagement,  by  which  he  may  be 
maintaining  a  helpless  family. 

The  law  is  also  unjust  in  not  extending  to  the 


THE   AMERICAN   NAVY.  235 

board  of  fifteen,  the  surgeons,  pursers,  and  chaplains, 
the  same  provisions  it  applies  to  other  officers. 
Why  were  these  classes  privileged,  and  exempted 
from  the  same  rigor  as  others  ?  —  these  men,  who 
even  at  sea  lead  a  life  of  ease  and  idleness,  while 
those  who  are  subjected  to  all  the  peril  of  active 
sea  service  are  made  to  forfeit  their  places  ? 

Americans,  if  you  wish  to  know  the  iniquity  of 
this  law,  turn  to  the  Navy  Kegister  !  You  will 
there  find  pursers  credited  with  but  seven  years 
and  nine  months'  sea  service,  who  have  been  forty- 
one  years  and  nine  months  in  the  navy,  and  re 
ceiving  all  the  time  their  eighteen  hundred  dollars 
from  the  government.  Is  this  right,  is  it  honest, 
Americans  ? 

There  are  surgeons,  too,  who  have  been  but 
three  years  and  six  months  in  the  service,  out  of  a 
period  of  forty-six  years  and  eight  months,  re 
ceiving  their  eighteen  hundred  dollars  !  Chap 
lains,  waiting  orders,  who  have  performed  religious 
services  at  sea  but  two  years  and  four  months,  and 
been  receiving  from  the  government  a  thousand 
dollars,  annually,  for  twenty-six  years  and  three 
months  ! 

The  law,  too,  set  out  to  reform  the  navy  ; —  now 


236  THE   AMERICAN   NAVY. 

look  at  its  execution  in  that  view  !  It  has  made 
ninety-nine  captains,  one  hundred  and  thirty  com 
manders,  and  three  hundred  and  ninety  lieuten 
ants  !  And,  out  of  this  number,  the  government 
had  sent  to  sea  on  the  first  of  the  present  year 
but  fourteen  captains  (including  commanders), 
nineteen  commanders,  and  one  hundred  and  fifteen 
lieutenants  !  All  this  is  the  result  of  having  an 
incompetent  Secretary  of  the  Navy,  who  allowed 
the  board  of  "  fifteen "  all  the  latitude  they 
wanted.  They  dictated  to  him,  and  he,  Mr.  Dob 
bin,  dictated  to  the  President,  who  issued  his 
rescript  confirming  their  corrupt  action  towards 
American  men.  Our  foreign  stations  are  now 
all  disgraced  by  the  want  of  an  efficient  navy  to 
represent  our  nationality  abroad,  while  the  ex 
penses  of  the  nation  are  increased  to  support  a 
pack  of  idlers. 

There  was  no  need  of  any  more  legislation  what 
ever,  for  what  this  law  of  February  28th,  1855, 
meant  ostensibly  to  do.  The  Secretary  of  the  Navy 
had  the  power  before  to  furlough;  and  there  are,  at 
least,  three  instances  on  the  register,  to  show  that 
right  had  been  exercised,  and  these  men  thus  put 
out  of  the  pale  of  promotion.  The  President,  too, 


THE  AMERICAN   NAVY.  237 

if  he  chose,  could  then  have  renominated  those 
officers  for  promotion,  or  continued  to  discredit 
them,  as  he  pleased.  And  the  whole  proceeding 
in  reference  to  the  late  Navy  Ketiring  Board  has 
been  a  sham  affair,  from  beginning  to  end  ;  the 
product  of  base  personal  malignity,  on  the  part  of 
certain  officers  of  the  navy,  aided  by  the  efforts  of 
weak  but  high  government  officials.  The  facts,  in 
this  connection,  have  the  authenticity  of  the  rec 
ords  from  the  navy  department  of  the  government, 
and  are  submitted  to  the  consideration  of  the 
American  people,  who  are  eminently  able  to  make 
their  own  comments. 

In  the  first  place,  the  Secretary  of  the  Navy  knew 
that  the  names  of  the  victims  were  marked  upon 
the  register,  in  his  office,  before  those  who  con 
stituted  that  board  were  known  to  the  people  ; 
and  he  informed  Capt.  Smith,  one  of  the  "re 
tired,"  that  he  knew  the  reason  why  every  man 
was  dishonored.  Weeks  before  the  board  assem 
bled,  Commodore  Skinner  found  a  register  with 
similar  marks  in  his  office  ;  they  were  seen  in  other 
places  where  these  clubs  to  dishonor  American 
officers  congregated. 

Dupont,     Shubrick,     Magrader,    Pendergrast, 


238  IHE  AMERICAN  NAVY. 

Jenkins,  and  others,  were  the  leading  actors  in  this 
business.  Mr.  Mallory,  the  bill-framer,  in  consult 
ation  with  Dupont,  had  designated  one  hundred 
officers  on  the  register  for  this  fate,  before  the  pas 
sage  of  the  law,  ninety-nine  of  whom  are  now  vic 
tims.  Fifty-seven  of  the  officers  thus  dismissed 
from  the  service  of  their  country  were  afloat  upon 
duty  at  the  time,  by  order  of  the  Secretary  of  the 
Navy ;  some  of  whom  were,  at  the  very  moment, 
in  the  performance  of  deeds  of  bravery  under  the 
American  flag,  which  have  added  new  lustre  to  our 
national  glory.  Lieut  Rolando  here  furnishes  a 
distinguished  illustration.  He  volunteered  to  res 
cue  the  perishing  crew  of  a  Chinese  junk,  when  all 
others  feared  to  offer  assistance  ;  and  not  only  saved 
five  hundred  and  thirty  out  of  six  hundred  from 
instant  death,  but,  in  the  two  successive  piratical 
fights,  won,  for  his  courage  and  noble  daring,  such 
admiration  from  European  governments  as  should 
send  a  thrill  of  pleasure  through  the  heart  of  every 
true  American. 

The  prohibition  of  the  increase  in  the  navy,  by 
this  law,  shows  clearly  that  neither  the  author 
nor  the  executioners  knew  what  they  were  about. 
Congress  never  intended  to  interfere  with  the  rights 


THE   AMERICAN   NAVY.  239 

nor  to  injure  the  reputations  of  upwards  of  two 
hundred  American  citizens,  no  more  than  it  meant 
to  make  three  hundred  promotions  in  tke  service, 
which  has  actually  been  done.  Of  the  thirty-five 
new  captains  made  by  this  board,  three  only  are  at 
sea,  and  but  six  on  shore  duty  ;  leaving  the  bal 
ance  to  enjoy  their  new  dignity  in  idleness.  There 
is,  then,  but  one  more  captain  at  sea  to-day  than 
there  was  a  year  ago  ;  while  there  are  three  com 
manders  less  than  there  were  at  that  time  ;  so  that 
thirty- six  of  this  grade  are  also  idle. 

In  the  selection  made  by  the  Secretary  of  the 
Navy,  of  captains  for  important  posts,  he  has,  in 
every  instance  of  which  we  have  heard,  passed  over 
the  absolute  claims  of  the  efficient  captains,  and 
named,  for  important  sea  and  shore  duties,  the  new 
captains  or  commanders  made  by  the  board,  whose 
commissions  as  such  were  not  then  even  confirmed. 

The  withdrawal  of  so  many  gallant  officers  from 
the  active  service,  to  promote  young  and  inexperi 
enced  me'n,  has  left  the  navy,  at  this  moment,  with 
but  sixteen  midshipmen  in  all  parts  of  the  world. 
There  are,  therefore,  twenty-six  American  ships 
now  commissioned  in  the  service,  without  a  single 
officer  of  this  rank  upon  their  decks  ;  and,  while 


240  THE   AMERICAN   NAVY. 

the  law  authorizes  sixty  masters  in  the  navy,  there 
are  but  eighteen  of  these,  because  none  can  be 
made  so  until  after  they  have  become  passed  mid 
shipmen. 

President  Pierce  and  Mr.  Secretary  Dobbin 
thought  the  appointment  of  upwards  of  two  hun 
dred  new  midshipmen  was  at  stake  when  the  inqui 
sition  was  engaged  in  the  decapitation  of  officers  ; 
but  a  clause,  in  defiance  of  the  common  treachery, 
was  discovered  in  the  bill,  which,  to  the  eternal 
honor  and  wise  forethought  of  the  author,  pre 
vented  the  fruit,  which  they  all  thought  so  ripe, 
from  being  plucked,  even  to  save  the  nomination, 
or  preserve  the  succession. 

We  see  now  that  by  the  act  of  the  administration 
they  have  absolutely  left  the  navy  without  a  cap 
tain  whom  they  deem  qualified  for  the  head  of  a 
bureau.  In  this  dilemma,  Ingraham,  of  Koszta 
memory,  was  brought  on  to  the  seat  of  government 
for  that  purpose,  when  the  Senate  refused  to  appoint 
a  man  to  a  captain's  place  who  had  never  been 
commissioned.  But,  in  spite  of  the  Senate 
"  tabling"  him,  he  was  kept  there  by  the  Secretary, 
while  Capt.  Smith,  a  "retired"  officer,  was  of 
necessity  at  the  head  of  two  bureaus  at  the  time. 


THE  AMERICAN   NAVY.  241 

•      *'^3^ 
Thus  we  discover  that  the  navy  has  been  so  bereft 

of  its  original  strength  as  to  be  without  a  qualified 
captain  to  fill  the  post,  not  excepting  the  notable 
Shubrick,  respecting  whom,  as  president  of  the 
immortal  ''Council  of  Fifteen,"  it  is  proper, 
Americans,  you  should  know  more. 

He,  with  McCauley,  also  a  member  of  the  board, 
was  declared  guilty  of  insubordination  by  the  offi 
cers  of  the  Mediterranean  squadron,  in  1817,  who 
memorialized  Commodore  Chauncey  to  cause  their 
removal  from  the  service.  Commanders  Crane, 
Creighton,  Rogers,  Gamble,  and  Nicholson,  signed 
this  memorial ;  and  it  stands  without  mutilation  still 
upon  the  records  of  the  department.  They  state 
that  Shubrick  and  McCauley  had  incited  contempt 
for  the  service  and  discipline  of  the  navy,  its  repu 
tation,  order,  and  good  government ;  that  they  held 
secret  meetings  to  create  disaffection,  and  went  so 
far  as  to  threaten  Congress  that  if  their  imaginary 
grievances  were  not  redressed  by  that  tribunal,  they 
would  resort  to  arms  for  their  own  protection  !  — 
that  no  reliance,  for  these  reasons,  could  be  placed 
upon  the  fidelity  of  Shubrick  and  McCauley,  in  the 
service  of  their  country,  while  they  had  forfeited 

all  claim  to  their  confidence,  and  endangered,  by 
11 


242  THE  AMERICAN  NAVY. 

•* 

their  example,  the  vessels  intrusted  to  their 
charge. 

After  the  war  closed  with  England,  in  1814,  it 
was  decided  to  place  an  American  squadron  in  the 
sight  of  Europe.  This  squadron  was  sent,  properly 
equipped,  to  the  Mediterranean,  under  the  command 
of  Commodore  Chauncey,  eminent  as  a  disciplin 
arian.  Shubrick  and  McCauley  were  then  attached 
to  the  ship  of  Capt.  Oliver  Perry,  of  that  squad 
ron  ;  who,  ambitious  of  having  it  perfect  in  all  its 
appointments,  exercised  also  increased  discipline 
among  the  lieutenants  and  other  subordinates. 
Heath,  a  man  belonging  to  the  marine  corps,  was 
among  these  ;  and,  in  a  braggadocio  spirit,  showed 
resentment  for  himself  and  associates,  by  disrespect 
ful  and  insubordinate  language  to  Capt.  Perry, 
in  his  cabin,  who,  high-toned  and  high-spirited, 
knocked  the  marine  officer  down,  and  afterwards 
confined  him.  He  soon  saw,  however,  that  he  had 
committed  a  military  offence,  and  magnanimously 
offered,  through  a  friend,  to  make  reparation  by  an 
apology  to  Heath. 

The  terms  proposed  in  this  apology  by  Heath  and 
his  comrades  were  not  honorable  ;  and  Capt.  Perry, 
waiving  his  rank,  consented  to  receive  his  propo- 


THE  AMERICAN  NAVY.  243 

sition  to  fight  him.  Heath  backed  out.  ShuJ)rick 
and  McCauley  were  the  instigators  of  Heath. 

When  the  squadron  returned  to  the  United  States, 
Capt.  Perry  stated  all  the  circumstances  to  the  Presi 
dent,  Secretary  of  the  Navy,  and  Commodores  Rog 
ers,  Decatur,  and  Porter,  and  offered  to  submit  to 
trial,  or  any  other  punishment  they  might  see  fit  to 
inflict.  The  President  and  Secretary  submitted  the 
matter  to  Commodore  Porter,  who,  in  view  of  Capt. 
Perry's  honorable  action  in  the  premises,  decided  it 
settled,  and  advised  that  Shubrick,  McCauley,  and 
other  officers  of  the  squadron,  who  were  guilty  of 
this  insubordination,  be  reprimanded ;  which  was 
done,  by  Commodore  Chauncey. 

Hence  we  see  the  provocation  for  the  insubordi 
nate  conduct  of  Shubrick  and  McCauley,  and  which 
was  so  outrageous  as  to  oblige  the  distinguished 
officers  of  the  squadron  to  ask  for  their  dismissal 
from  the  -service.  This  board  have  dropped  from 
the  navy  Capt.  John  Chauncey,  the  son  of  the 
commodore,  and  laid  aside  the  sons  of  Commodores 
Perry  and  Porter,  —  a  singular  coincidence,  and 
worthy  of  comment. 

But  this  is  not  the  only  instance  in  which  Shu 
brick  has  shown  that  no  cheerful  submission  engaged 


244  THE  AMERICAN  NAYT- 

his  affections  to  the  government.  In  1847,  he  be 
trayed  the  same  spirit  at  the  expense  of  his  patriot 
ism.  He  was  ordered  to  the  Pacific  squadron  by 
the  Secretary  of  the  Navy,  to  be  under  the  com 
mand  of  Biddle,  on  joining  him  at  that  station. 
Two  months  after  reaching  Mexico,  he  asked  leave 
to  return  to  the  United  States,  before  Biddle  had 
even  received  the  information  from  the  department. 
This  was  at  an  important  crisis  in  the  war,  and  we 
needed  more  material  and  power  to  meet  the  enemy 
than  could  then  be  concentrated  ;  yet  he  not  only 
insisted  that  the  Columbus  was  not  needed,  but  actu 
ally  directed  all  his  influence  to  prevent  the  Sara 
toga  from  uniting  with  the  squadron  ;  and  in  sight 
of  the  enemy,  in  time  of  war,  commanding  a  gal 
lant  and  well-manned  squadron,  was  anxious  to 
desert  the  national  flag  and  return  home,  at  a  mo 
ment  of  doubt  and  peril  in  his  country's  history. 
This  was  not  enough.  He  demanded  that  a  frigate 
of  the  squadron  should  have  the  distinguished  honor 
of  shipping  him  back  to  the  United  States.  The 
reason  was,  as  he  confessed,  that  the  Secretary  of 
the  Navy  had  damped  his  ardor  by  disappointment, 
and  had  acted  in  an  uncandid  manner.  Hence,  to 


THE   AMERICAN   NAVY.  245 

gratify  his  personal  revenge,  he  was  ready  to  sacri 
fice  his  country's  glory. 

Was  this  the  conduct  for  a  military  man  ?  "Was 
this  the  conduct  of  a  servant  of  that  government 
which  had  constituted  the  Secretary  his  superior  in 
authority?  In  the  Brazilian  squadron,  28th  Oct., 
1846,  Shubrick  also  acted  in  violation  of  the 
Secretary's  orders,  by  writing  a  Jesuitical  letter  to 
the  commander  of  that  station,  which  induced  him 
to  send  the  Saratoga,  bound  to  the  Pacific  under 
government  orders,  back  to  Norfolk  for  repairs, 
although  officers  stood  ready  to  take  her  to  that 
destination. 

He  is  afterwards  found  claiming  fresh  laurels  on 
the  Pacific,  in  the  taking  of  Mazatlan  and  Guaymas. 
The  latter  was  taken  by  Capt.  Lavalette,  and  not 
even  by  orders  of  Shubrick  ;  while  he  represented 
Mazatlan  as  taken  by  superior  force.  Now,  it  is 
well  known,  that  Lieut.  Halleck  and  two  American 
men  took  it  without  resistance,  and  raised  our 
stars  and  stripes ;  and  when  ninety  men  did 
attempt,  under  Lieut.  Selden,  to  march  into  the 
interior,  the  most  of  Shubrick' s  men  ran  at  the 
first  fire  of  the  enemy,  except  one  who  was  shot. 
Selden  was  wounded,  and  seventeen  men  killed, 


246  THE   AMERICAN   NAVY. 

before  the  forces  from  Shubrick's  ship,  the  Inde 
pendence,  were  rallied  by  their  officers,  and  came 
back.  Selden  is  now  a  victim  of  the  board. 
Heywood  distinguished  himself,  with  his  gallant 
band  of  modern  Sanduskys,  at  San  Jose*,  and 
won  a  niche  in  the  temple  of  fame  equal  to 
Croghan  and  Stevens,  who,  when  all  others  had 
fallen  by  his  side,  stood  firm  to  the  guns.  He  is 
broken  by  this  hero  of  peace,  Shubrick,  and  his 
brothers,  Stanley,  Lewis,  &c.  &c.,  share  no  better 
fate.  Why  ?  Because  they  fought  the  enemy,  in 
spite  of  Shubrick's  non-resistance  ! 


CHAPTER    II. 

Now,  remembering  that  Shubrick  is  the  man  who 
has  spent  thirty-two  years  of  his  life  in  land  activ 
ity,  "we  proceed  to  his  confederate  in  the  board, 
Stribling.  He  has  written  a  letter  recently  in 
laudation  of  himself,  in  which  he  has  committed 
robbery  upon  the  dead.  He  stated  that  he  com 
manded  the  barges  "  Mosquito'*  and  "  Gallinipper," 
in  the  West  Indies,  in  1823  ;  that  he  attacked  and 
captured  the  "  Catalina,"  under  command  of  the 
famous  Diaboleto,  whom  he  killed  with  his  own 
hand,  thereby  ending  the  piratical  war. 

Now,  Stribling  had  no  more  to  do  with  that 
engagement  than  he  had  with  the  discovery  of 
America.  It  was  the  brave  achievement  of  Lieut. 
Wm.  H.  Watson,  who,  with  but  twenty-six  men, 
effected  almost  the  total  destruction  of  a  crew  of 
seventy  or  eighty,  without  the  loss  of  a  single 
American.  This  gallant  act  is  modestly  set  forth 
in  his  despatches  to  Commodore  Porter,  who  com- 


- 


248  THE  AMERICAN   NAVY. 

mends  them  to  the  department,  and  asks  for  Wat 
son's  promotion  in  the  service. 

Stribling,  in  the  previous  April,  did  take  a  small 
schooner  Pilot,  in  which  his  official  report  stated 
that  one  man  was  found  dead,  and  that  several  were 
supposed  to  be  wounded ;  but  he  did  not  think  it 
prudent  to  pursue  them.  He  had,  too,  double  their 
number  of  men  ;  but  he  spoke  with  some  horror 
of  their  amount  of  deadly  weapons,  especially-  of  a 
"  double  fortified  six-pounder," —  quite  an  anomaly 
in  modern  warfare. 

And  now,  when  Watson's  nephew  writes  to  Capt. 
Stribling,  in  defence  of  his  uncle's  reputation, 
Stribling  replies  that  he  only  wrote  from  memory. 
A  remarkably  defective  organ,  surely,  and  should 
not,  therefore,  have  been  relied  upon  for  data  ; 
particularly  when  it  could  have  been  so  easily  re 
freshed  by  the  records  at  hand.  It  will  take  more 
credulity  than  Americans  possess  to  convince  them 
that  memory  had  anything  to  do  with  the  matter. 

This  is  the  same  gentleman  who,  instead  of  hav 
ing  the  San  Jacinto  in  readiness  to  repel  the  enemy 
in  the  West  India  seas,  in  1855,  when  she  was  sent 
to  Cuba  to  protect  the  American  flag,  brought  her 


THE  AMERICAN  NAVY.  249 

back  to  New  York  in  a  worse  condition  than  any 
ship  ever  before  in  the  service  of  the  government. 

Dupont,  like  Stribling  and  Shubrick,  has  also 
elaborated  his  glory  on  paper.  He  states  that  he 
killed  many  hardy  Mexicans  in  California,  in  the 
battle  of  San  Jose,  the  only  warlike  engagement 
in  which  he  ever  participated  in  his  life  !  But 
Lieut.  Heywood,  who  came  to  his  assistance  and 
rescued  him,  says  not  one  was  killed.  Lieut. 
Heywood  was  left  in  Southern  California  by  Shu- 
brick,  with  but  eighteen  or  twenty  men,  without 
the  means  of  subsistence,  and  surrounded  by  the 
enemy,  without  the  possibility  of  succor  within  a 
hundred  miles.  But  for  a  whaling-ship,  he  and 
his  brave  comrade  Stevens  would  have  perished 
from  famine.  Stevens,  whose  gallant  conduct  has 
had  so  much  eulogy,  has  been  dropped  from  the 
service. 

Dupont,  Godon,  Pendegrast  and  Missroon, 
were  the  four  of  the  board  who  had  been  long 
styled  "  mutineers  "  in  the  navy.  When  the  Sec 
retary  of  the  Navy  sent  them  back  to  the  Mediter 
ranean  squadron,  and  Commodore  Hull  had,  by 
his  orders,  reprimanded  them  for  their  bad  conduct, 
he  was  afterwards  obliged  to  write  to  Dupont  and 


250  THE  AMERICAN  NAVY. 

his  confederates,  Godon,  Pendegrast,  and  Miss- 
roon,  that  one  of  three  things  he  should  do  :  either 
to  dismantle  the  ship  and  shut  her  up  in  a  Spanish 
port  until  lieutenants  could  be  procured  from  the 
United  States  fit  to  restore  her  to  her  position  ;  to 
take  them  to  sea,  with  all  their  disrespect,  discon 
tent,  and  disaffection,  and  trust  to  better  things ; 
or,  to  make  then  such  changes  as  his  means  would 
allow.  "  Who  can  go  into  battle,"  said  he,  "  with 
confidence,  surrounded  by  disaffected  officers  ? 
Who,  of  those  ordered  to  the  ship  as  her  sea-lieu 
tenants,  can  I  confide  in  ?  " 

On  the  21st  of  March,  1841,  Commodore  Hu 
wrote  to  the  Secretary  of  the  Navy  that  * '  Dupont 
was  the  leader  of  the  difficulty  on  the  Ohio  ;  and 
that  the  pernicious  influence  he  exercised  had 
effected  more  serious  injury  to  the  service  than 
he  could  ever  repair."  Commodore  Hull  specified 
acts,  made  definite  charges  of  the  official  miscon 
duct  of  these  four  men  ;  and,  to  the  close  of  his 
life,  he  expressed  regret  that  they  were  ever  re 
turned  to  the  Mediterranean,  when  they  merited 
the  severest  punishment  known  to  the  service. 

Dupont  was  the  author  of  that  remarkable  arti 
cle  which  appeared  in  the  National  Intelligencer 


THE  AMERICAN   NAVY.  251 

on  the  21st  of  May,  1855,  and  foreshadowed  the 
action  of  himself  and  comrades,  in  the  following 
June.  Mr.  Seaton,  the  respected  editor,  is  suffi 
cient  authority  for  this  fact.  Commodore  Skinner, 
on  ascertaining  from  him  that  Dupont  had  asked  its 
publication,  carried  it  to  the  office,  and  was  respon 
sible  for  its  sentiments,  informed  the  Secretary  of 
the  Navy,  without  delay ;  and  told  him  that  in 
that  article  Dupont  had  insulted  every  captain  in 
the  navy.  The  Secretary,  instead  of  doing  his 
duty,  as  an  upright  officer  would  have  done,  and 
keeping  Dupont  out  of  the  board,  to  which  place 
he  had  already  assigned  him,  kept  him  in  it,  with 
this  evidence,  in  all  its  baseness,  right  before  him. 
There  is  every  reason  to  believe,  as  we  do,  that 
the  Secretary  had  seen  the  article  before  it  was 
printed. 

Dupont  acted,  in  defiance  of  authority,  under 
Captain,  now  Commodore  Smith,  of  the  navy  ;  and, 
according  to  the  Secretary,  was  one  of  the  "  cabal" 
in  this  ship,  to  create  disaffection  and  dissatisfac 
tion  at  the  accommodations  assigned  him  by  orders 
of  the  department.  And  he  indignantly  rejected 
other  apartments  when  tendered  to  him  through 
Capt.  Smith,  who  says,  in  his  official  letter  to 


252  THE  AMERICAN  NAVY. 

Hull,  "  the  true  military  course  for  me  would 
have  been  to  have  compelled  him,"  &c. 

From  the  time  of  the  difficulty  in  the  Mediterra 
nean  squadron,  under  Hull,  Dupont  and  his  asso 
ciates  have  zealously  labored  for  the  passage  of 
just  such  a  law  by  Congress  as  was  obtained  at 
the  last  session. 

No  one  of  the  four  mutineers,  Godon,  Dupont, 
Missroon,  or  Pendegrast,  of  Hull's  ship,  could 
have  been  induced  to  have  entered  that  board 
alone  ;  they  had  not  the  individual  courage  to 
carry  out  the  plan  they  had  devised.  It  required 
the  collective  courage  of  all  four  to  support  each 
other  in  their  dark  actings.  As  Dupont  said  in 
his  article  on  the  21st  of  May,  "  the  sharper  appe 
tites  of  juniors  whose  INTEREST  would  coincide  with 
their  duty" 

Not  long  since,  a  board  composed  of  Commo 
dores  Morris,  Shubrick,  Skinner,  and  Dupont, 
were  constituted  to  prepare  a  code  for  the  better 
government  of  the  navy.  Dupont  seems  to  have 
appropriated  the  whole  of  that  duty  pretty  much 
to  himself,  according  to  the  confessions  of  his  asso 
ciates.  The  work  was  referred  to  the  Attorney 
General,  by  the  Secretary  of  the  Navy,  for  his 


THE  AMERICAN   NAVY.  253 

legal  opinion  ;  and  he  decided  it  "null  and  void," 
having  transcended  its  rightful  jurisdiction.  This, 
too,  after  a  cost  of  many  thousand  dollars  to  the 
government. 

The  thirty-fifth  regulation  of  this  code  deserves 
comment,  from  the  fact  that  it  had  singular  signifi 
cance  upon  the  council  of  "fifteen."  It  forbade 
the  court  to  receive  evidence  of  the  previous  good 
character  and  former  services  of  the  accused  in 
mitigation  of  the  punishment  to  be  awarded,  while 
it  allowed  evidence  of  previous  bad  character  to  be 
adduced.  The  board  acted  on  this  principle  :  it 
received  and  entertained  every  accusation,  and  ad 
mitted  no  evidence,  however  abundant,  in  defence 
of  the  accused.  It  ransacked  the  shelves  of  the 
department  for  musty  old  documents,  from  which 
they  hoped  to  find  charges  against  those  they  had 
already  condemned ;  and,  according  to  Shubrick's 
statement,  they  made  free  use  of  these.  They  used 
its  archives  to  abuse  the  government.  When  the 
country  loses  its.  true  men,  what  else  is  there  to 
save? 

Hence,  Dupont's  system,  after  being  pronounced 
in  derogation  of  the  powers  of  Congress,  still  made 
shining  marks  for  its  full  efficacy  in  the  operations 


254  THE  AMERICAN  NAVY. 

of  the  council  of  fifteen.  During  the  cruise  of  the 
Delaware,  commanded  by  Commodore  Hull,  Lieut. 
Boyle  was  attached,  with  Dupont,  Barron,  and 
Godon.  At  midnight,  when  Boyle  retired  from 
the  watch,  Dupont  took  her  deck.  The  foreyard 
and  all  her  sails  were  soon  carried  away.  Boyle 
was  called,  and  found  Dupont  agitated  and  con 
fused.  He  put  the  ship  in  trim,  and  she  went  on 
her  cruising-ground.  Here  were  three  members 
of  the  board  present ;  but  Boyle  alone  proved  him 
self  an  officer.  This  efficient  man  is  now  laid  aside, 
a  victim  of  the  very  men  who  had  proved  them 
selves  incompetent  in  the  service. 

Some  time  after,  Dupont  was  placed  in  command 
of  the  "  Perry,"  for  the  East  India  squadron.  He 
reported  himself  sick,  on  reaching  Rio  de  Janeiro, 
of  a  chronic  disease,  and  came  home.  Lieut. 
Ringold,  also,  once  suffered  from  disease  ;  and, 
although  he  had  recovered,  in  the  opinion  of  medi 
cal  men,  it  was,  in  Dupont's  judgment,  a  valid 
reason  for  putting  him  upon  the  shelf. 

The  gravest  charges  are  on  file  in  the  depart 
ment  against  Pendegrast,  preferred  by  Lieut.  May, 
February  13th,  1854.  He  complains  of  the  in 
efficiency  of  Pendegrast  in  every  particular.  That 


THE   AMERICAN   NAVY.  255 

at  the  very  moment  when  the  difficulties  growing 
out  of  our  affairs  with  Cuba  rendered  the  Saranac 
liable  to  a  naval  engagement,  she  was  wholly  un 
fitted  for  fighting.  Her  guns  even  had  not  been 
exercised  but  once  in  six  months ;  and  they  never 
mustered  at  fire  stations,  one  single  time,  until  the 
officers  of  the  ship  had  been  alarmed  by  fire,  seven 
months  after  sailing.  And,  with  this  unprecedented 
and  culpable  neglect,  being  indifferent  to  the  con 
dition  and  efficiency  of  the  ship,  he  sailed  from 
Pensacola  to  San  Juan  de  Nicaragua,  to  investigate 
the  difficulty  with  the  Prometheus,  which  was  for 
tunately  settled  without  an  exposure  of  the  ship's 
inefficiency. 

Pendegrast  has  never  been  tried  upon  the  charges, 
and  they  stand  on  the  record  disproved.  Lieut. 
May  is  an  officer  of  character  and  reputation,  and 
is  retained  on  the  active  list. 

With  these  facts  before  him,  the  Secretary  of  the 
Navy,  instead  of  acting  under  a  high  sense  of  official 
responsibility,  and  bringing  Pendegrast  to  trial, 
and  punishing  him,  if  the  facts  were  sustained,  saw 
fit,  with  all  the  guilt  upon  him,  to  give  him  a  seat 
in  the  "  Navy  Retiring  Board,"  while  officers  have 
been  dismissed  or  disrated  in  the  navy,  who  have 


256  THE  AMERICAN  NAVY. 

received  swords  and  medals  as  the  grateful  appre 
ciation  of  Congress  for  their  fidelity  and  zeal  in  the 
service  of  the  country. 

Misroon,  also  a  member  of  the  inquisitorial 
council,  has  made  misstatements  under  oath,  before 
the  naval  committee,  in  reference  to  Lieut.  Bartlett ; 
and,  with  the  complicity  of  Dupont,  this  valuable 
officer  has  been  degraded  in  the  service.  Lieut. 
Bartlett,  who  had  been  detailed  for  active  duty  at 
the  time  of  this  infliction,  was  the  first  to  introduce 
the  great  temperance  reform  in  the  navy,  and  was 
covered  with  eulogium  for  efficiency  in  duty  by 
every  distinguished  official  of  the  government  with 
whom  he  has  been  connected. 


AND  now  with  what  different  emotions  can  we, 
Americans,  recur  to  the  name  of  Commodore  Perry, 
though  he  is  found  among  the  list  of  that  board  of 
"fifteen"!  There  is  a  moral  sublimity  in  the 
defiant  and  manly  manner  with  which  he  has,  in  the 
frankness  and  candor  becoming  a  gallant  officer  of 
the  navy,  disclaimed  to  other  officers,  both  in  and 
out  of  the  navy,  all  participation  or  sympathy  with 
the  proceedings.  "  I  wash  my  hands  forever  of 
the  conduct,  proceedings,  and  action,  of  the  Navy 
Retiring  Board,"  was  the  language  of  Commodore 
Perry  to  a  prominent  officer  of  the  navy.  Perry's 
achievements  in  the  Mexican  war,  which  rivalled 
those  of  his  distinguished  brother  on  Lake  Erie, 
command  our  praise ;  his  Japan  Expedition,  in 
which  he  effected  a  treaty  with  that  nation,  whose 
ports,  for  more  than  a  century,  had  been  sealed  to 
all  but  the  Chinese  and  Dutch,  commands  our 
praise  ;  but  the  moral  and  physical  bravery  which 


258  THE    AMERICAN    NAVY. 

he  has  displayed  on  this  occasion  challenges  the 
gratitude,  as  well  as  admiration,  of  all  honorable 
men  and  women ;  and  the  press  everywhere  com 
mends  the  magnanimity,  while  the  people,  appre 
ciating  his  merit,  gladly  take  him  out  of  this  inqui 
sitorial  council,  to  reserve  him  for  higher  honors  at 
their  own  hands. 

Commodore  Perry's  own  son  was  put  out  of  the 
navy  by  that  board.  Since  its  action  became  his 
tory,  it  is  astonishing  to  learn  how  its  members 
threaten  and  defy  officers  to  breathe  suspicion 
against  its  exactions,  lest  they  who  are  laid  aside 
be  dropped  altogether.  And  Shubrick,  we  learn 
from  reliable  authority,  wrote  to  Commodore  Perry 
to  know  whether  he  had  not  severely  censured  the 
board.  Perry  replied  very  briefly  as  to  his  ques 
tion,  but  denied  the  right  of  the  hero  of  Mazatlan, 
Guaymas,  and  Craney  Island,  to  inquire  into  his 
private  conversation  with  gentlemen.  Biddle,  too, 
Perry's  junior,  the  hater  of  science  and  learning, 
as  his  letter  to  Lieut.  Maury  shows,  writes  to  the 
same  import  as  Shubrick,  when  Commodore  Perry 
despatches  that  gentleman  by  saying  he  wished  no 
further  correspondence  with  him.  And  the  subse 
quent  silence  of  Mr.  Slidell,  the  relative  of  Com- 


THE    AMERICAN    NAVY.  259 

modore  Perry,  after  he*  came  to  New  York  and 
conversed  with  Perry,  furnishes  the  true  version  of 
the  case  in  the  United  States  Senate. 

We  are  told  that  dismissed  and  disrated  officers 
are  not  suitable  to  represent  their  own  cases.  That 
men,  whose  reputation  and  honor  have  been  deeply 
wounded,  deprived  of  their  living,  and  prevented  at 
the  same  time  from  embarking  in  any  other  pur 
suit,  are  not  to  be  believed.  Americans,  we  all 
know  very  well  that  such  doctrine  as  this  is  polit 
ical  heresy  of  the  vilest  character.  It  is  anti- 
American,  anti-republican,  and  only  fit  to  emanate 
from  an  emperor  or  autocrat. 

These  men,  free  from  the  obligations  of  oaths  or 
conscience,  have,  under  the  direction  and  conniv 
ance  of  the  Secretary  of  the  Navy,  tried  their  supe 
riors,  and  exercised  upon  them  their  hate  or  their 
love,  irresponsible  to  law,  and  in  violation  of  the 
constitution.  The  President  acted  as  they  willed 
and  directed.  He  endorsed  the  action  of  that 
board  with  as  much  zest  as  he  did  the  contemptible 
action  of  Hollins  upon  the  people  of  Grey  town. 
And  the  redress  that  can  be  had  from  him  you  can 
very  well  decide.  Never  before  have  the  rights  of 


260  THE    AMERICAN   If  ATT. 

our  citizens  been  so  hazarded  by  public  men,  who 
indubitably  proved  that  they  were  not  to  be  trusted. 

The  family  relation  that  board  sustained  was 
another  odious  influence  in  its  clumsy  manoeuvring. 
The  prominent  actors  were  either  connected  by 
blood  or  marriage,  and  took  excellent  care  to  dis 
tribute  the  spoils  through  their  own  social  circle. 

Formerly  three  years  were  regarded  as  the 
shortest  cruise  for  an  efficient  officer  in  command. 
Recently  three  officers  have  been  appointed  in  six 
months  to  a  single  ship  —  a  beautiful  comment 
upon  the  efficiency  of  the  service.  Capt.  Latimer, 
confessedly  one  of  the  most  accomplished  officers  in 
the  service,  has  had  applications  for  sea  duty  con 
stantly  before  the  department.  The  highest  among 
his  peers  declare  him  unrivalled  in  all  the  duties  of 
the  profession  to  which  he  has  been  devoted  from 
early  life,  and  say  that  his  ship  was  ever  equal  to 
any  emergency  that  could  arise.  He  has  been 
neglected  and  disrated,  to  give  place  to  incompe 
tent  men,  and  the  blow  was  struck  by  Stribling  and 
Pendegrast,  who  are  eminently  notorious  for  want 
of  discipline  and  efficiency.  Capt.  Latimer  was 
never  known  to  ask  to  be  relieved  from  duty,  but 
always  for  it ;  and  upwards  of  twenty-eight  years  of 


THE  AMERICAN   NAVY,  261 

active  employment  are  replete  with  the  richest 
memorials  of  his  distinguished  ability. 

Capt.  John  H.  Graham,  now  "  furloughed," 
served  in  the  memorable  battle  of  Black  Rock, 
opposite  the  enemy's  frontier,  in  1812.  He  was 
wounded  in  the  leg  while  entering  the  burning 
barracks,  and  was  saved  by  a  sailor,  who  threw 
young  Graham  upon  his  shoulder,  and  carried  him 
across  the  river,  while  his  clothes  actually  froze  to 
the  boat.  Nine  of  the  twelve  naval  officers  were 
killed  and  wounded.  Gen.  Porter,  in  his  report 
of  that  battle,  says:  "  If  bravery  be  a  virtue,  — 
if  the  gratitude  of  the  country  be  due  to  those 
who  gallantly  and  desperately  asserted  its  rights, 
—  the  government  will  make  ample  and  honorable 
provision  for  the  heirs  of  those  brave  tars  who  fell 
on  this  occasion,  as  well  as  for  those  who  survived." 
Graham  afterwards  fought  gloriously,  upon  his  cork 
leg,  at  the  battle  of  Lake  Champlain. 

Capt.  Wm.  Inman,  retired,  is  also  eminent  for 
efficiency  in  the  navy,  and  rigid  in  his  exactions 
of  duty. 

Lieut.  Gibson,  the  executive  officer  of  the  St. 
Louis,  was  nearly  paralyzed  by  this  unexpected 
blow  of  the  board.  He  had  seen  about  as  much 


262  THE  AMERICAN   NAVY. 

sea  service  as  Shubrick,  the  president  of  the 
board,  though  born  after  he  entered  the  service ; 
and  more  than  twenty-six  post-captains,  and 
seventy-nine  of  the  commanders,  had  seen,  who 
are  retained  on  the  active  list. 

Lieut.  Brownell,  who  fought  through  the  war  of 
1812,  and  was  seven  times  victorious  in  engage 
ments  with  the  enemy,  has  had  a  like  fate. 

There  is  one  other  case  —  that  of  Capt.  Uriah 
P.  Levy  —  to  which  we  must  advert,  as  it  is  one 
of  the  most  scandalous  outrages  in  connection  with 
the  action  of  the  Navy  Retiring  Board,  and  de 
serves  the  severest  reprehension  from  every  Ameri 
can  citizen.  As  a  reformer  in  the  service,  Capt. 
Levy  deserves  the  gratitude  of  his  country,  and  of 
humanity.  He  is  the  father  of  the  system  abolish 
ing  flogging  in  the  navy  ;  and  through  him  that 
inhuman  barbarity,  which  so  long  disgraced  its 
annals,  has  been  made  to  yield  to  reason  and  moral 
suasion. 

This  act  was  in  consonance  with  American  lib 
erty,  and  with  the  progress  and  intelligence  which 
belong  to  a  free  people.  Without  resort  to  that 
antediluvian  means  of  enforcing  discipline,  Levy's 
ship  was  eminent  for  its  order,  neatness,  and  effi- 


THE   AMERICAN   NAVY.  263 

ciency  to  duty  ;  and  when  the  Vandalia  returned 
to  the  United  States,  after  a  long  and  perilous 
cruise  in  the  Gulf  of  Mexico,  in  1840,  it  was  the 
boast  of  its  crew  that  there  had  been  less  personal 
chastisement  in  the  whole  cruise  than  the  records 
of  any  other  ship  of  war  ever  had  in  a  single 
month ;  and,  while  seamen  were  deserting  Shu- 
brick's  and  other  ships,  Commander  Levy  found 
no  difficulty  in  retaining  those  under  his  control, 
simply  because  he  respected  character,  and  did  not 
lose  sight  of  the  fact  that  he  was  dealing  with 
American  men.  The  Secretary  of  the  Navy,  then, 
was  so  gratified  by  this  first  essay  of  Commander 
Levy  towards  reform,  that  he  ordered  quarterly 
returns  to  be  made  to  the  department  by  all  the 
navy,  upon  the  principle  adopted  by  Levy  for  the 
abolition  of  the  "cat"  and  "  colt." 

Capt.  Levy  —  whose  biography  is  given  else 
where  in  this  volume  —  is  also  distinguished  as 
being  the  first  to  enforce  upon  his  ship  religious 
duty,  without  the  aid  of  a  chaplain,  by  instituting 
the  custom  of  reading  the  Old  and  New  Testament 
of  our  blessed  Lord.  Time  would  fail,  to  refer  to 
all  the  patriotic  and  gallant  men  who  have  thus 
been  outraged. 


26-i  THE  AMERICAN   NAVY. 

What  relief  can  be  procured  for  the  suffering 
families  of  those  officers  who  have  been  reduced  to 
want  by  the  action  of  the  President  of  the  United 
States,  the  Secretary  of  the  Navy,  and  the  Navy 
Board  ? 

Another  serious  question  is  presented  in  relation 
to  this  matter :  What  is  to  be  done  for  the  inno 
cent  wives  and  children  of  some  forty-eight  dis 
missed  officers,  who  are  reduced  to  penury  ?  What 
for  those  fifty  lieutenants  and  masters,  who,  with 
six  hundred  dollars,  and  three  hundred  and  seventy- 
five  dollars,  per  annum,  are  left  with  large  and 
helpless  households  depending  on  their  mainte 
nance,  and  without  means  of  other  employment? 
What  for  those  brave  men  who  have  served  their 
country  thirty,  forty,  and  fifty  long  years  ?  Is 
there  no  arm  of  mercy  to  reach  their  impoverished 
and  stricken  homes?  Will  not  the  people  hear 
their  cry  for  justice  ?  Will  they  not  flee  to  their 
succor?  Will  the  American  nation  suffer  such 
injustice  ?  Can  Americans  hear,  without  lively 
indignation,  that  such  oppression  has  been  inflicted 
upon  the  naval  chivalry  of  the  country  ? 

Will  Americans  believe  that  two  hundred  and 
one  "  skulks  "  have  been  dropped  or  disrated  from 


THE   AMERICAN   NAVY.  265 

the  navy,  as  the  "  wise  reformer,"  Mr.  Secretary 
Dobbin,  has  been  pleased  to  call  these  officers  ? 

The  law  was  really  a  government  bill,  and  the 
board  was  designed  by  Congress  to  protect  their 
brother  officers,  —  to  act  as  a  conservative  body 
between  them  and  tl\e  President,  who  was  to  inflict 
the  degradation.  The  board,  therefore,  instead  of 
performing  the  trust  assigned  by  Congress,  and 
shielding  their  brothers  from  unmerited  disgrace, 
became  the  subservient  tools  of  the  Secretary  of 
the  Navy,  who,  like  themselves,  was  a  relentless 
persecutor,  and  who,  to  carry  out  his  own  caprice, 
adopted  their  views,  and  ordered  the  sittings  to  be 
secret,  in  defiance  of  every  principle  of  justice  and 
law. 

Without  complaint,  it  had  long  been  known  that 
the  "board"  had,  by  intrigue,  sought  and  ob 
tained  more  favors,  more  full  pay,  more  pay  for 
extra  service,  than  all  the  victims  they  have  made 
ever  did  together.  But  they  still  wanted  "  more ; ' ' 
and,  to  obtain  their  end,  they  took  the  places  of 
their  modest,  meritorious  seniors.  Intoxicated 
with  this  power,  they  forgot  their  country,  to  make 
a  navy  to  suit  themselves. 

The  authority  to  remove  military  men,  even  by 
12 


266  THE  AMERICAN   NAVY. 

the  President,  is  a  very  delicate  and  dangerous 
exercise.  It  is  rarely  necessary  to  do  so,  particu 
larly  in  the  navy,  without  impartial  trial,  and  a 
formal  finding  of  a  court-martial.  Unlike  the  civil 
service,  there  are  always  others  ready  to  discharge 
the  duty  temporarily.  But,  more  than  this,  the  pro 
fession  of  a  naval  officer  is  the  business  of  his  entire 
life,  considered  and  adopted  as  an  honorable  tenure 
in  the  service  of  his  country,  and  secured  by  law. 

Dismission  always  implies  disgrace,  which  is,  in 
the  judgment  of  all  sensible  men,  greater  by  arbi 
trary  decision  than  when  flagrant  wrong,  by  a  fair 
trial,  has  proved  the  necessity  for  such  sentence ; 
and  in  this  act  not  only  have  officers  been  subjected 
to  an  arbitrary  and  tyrannical  action,  but  have  also 
had  it  inflicted,  in  many  instances,  by  juniors  and 
inferiors  in  the  service. 

The  precipitate  and  feeble  conduct  of  President 
Pierce,  devoid  of  dignity,  discretion,  or  justice,  m 
confirming  the  sentence  of  unmerited  disgrace  upon 
American  officers,  of  whom  he  knew  nothing,  and 
was  without  the  means  of  being  correctly  informed, 
ought  to  serve  as  a  solemn  warning  to  this  people. 
Neither  Congress,  who  passed  the  law,  nor  the 
President,  nor  the  Secretary  of  the  Navy,  were 


THE  AMERICAN   KAttf<  267 

imbued  with  that  military  and  national  pride  which 
belong  to  those  educated  in  the  navy  of  their  coun 
try,  whom  they  have  ingloriously  set  aside.  And 
thus  have  consequences  arisen,  from  the  conduct 
of  civilians,  which  must  fire  the  spirit  of  every 
patriot  in  the  land,  especially  when  the  nation 
takes  into  consideration  the  further  proof  of  the 
efficiency  and  worthiness  of  these  officers,  which 
time  will  soon  develop,  and  whom  justice  shall 
have  vindicated  and  restored  to  their  rights,  when 
the  people  shall  have  made  an  American  President. 
A  chief  magistrate  is  needed  who  can  comprehend 
the  wrong  in  a  national  as  well  as  individual  char 
acter,  and  will  consider  it  an  imperious  duty  to  afford 
these  two  hundred  and  one  officers  all  the  protection 
and  redress  which  lie  within  the  compass  of  the 
constitution  and  laws. 

It  may  be  well  to  remark  that  all  these  officers, 
endorsed  and  approved  by  Commodore  Perry,  be 
came  victims  of  the  board. 

Suppose,  Americans,  you  should  go  to  the 
department  at  Washington,  and  look  into  the  records 
for  charges  against  those  officers  now  promoted  in 
the  service,  we  tell  you  that  you  could  find  them. 


And,  while  we  cast  no  reflections  upon  any  of  these 
government  officials,  and  wish  to  see  them  all  ele 
vated  to  distinction  in  the  service  of  their  country, 
we  say,  fearlessly,  that  there  are  many  officers  re 
tained  and  promoted,  who,  if  the  records  be  true, 
are  much  more  entitled,  by  every  consideration  of 
justice,  to  the  same  sentence  which  has  been  passed 
upon  their  more  unfortunate  brothers  in  the  service. 


ir*»r*,7  ,«)f?.-»h  •»:'  ff-i  oj 


i  '')^r  »  -oh  HI  unt  n«  ii  'it»;'?sno->  liiw  rr«c 


s*.'?qoifto  etfi  flhlriw  ail  d3iir-,7  ran 

I  TK    HO'ill 


d  '{;•: 
9.1  /^TP)?  (rtofxvurntoO  y!  I».»7oifu« 


.oi^c-isdi.  'Jo  fju&j'r 


IJ-«      t  ••>  L- 


3HV 


i   ;»*   'Wftfiu   io  y'tteeb  t)d)  t^>juw     iu  *>i*i  (     il'i 
ijj  forf  v'ifti  rrcoifv  no  0-    3a  ft  *ci 

Y*U«tJ  tl    t»tS^    ,f-«"»id/j.j^BK:>    bfiH    ntU.'Ws'.t,    l» 

• 


CHAPTER    IV. 

^  j  i  ^    .»    .' .     . : . ,..  r, ;    «          .  /»T; 4     • » 

*J » I  -      **«      A---  '••      jl-«V'*-'*"'1 

THE  question  also  arises,  why  it  was  that  Such 
officers  as  Capt.  Wilkes,  who  had  seen  no  duty 
afloat  for  twenty-eight  years, 'and  had  already  had 
fifty  or  sixty  thousand  dollars  from  the  government 
for  his  contributions  to  science,  should  be  re 
tained  on  the  active  list  by  the  board,  when  Lieut. 
Maury  was  retired  because  he  had  seen  so  little  sea 
service.  It  was  possibly  allowed  by  Biddle  as  a 
monument  of  mercy  to  learning  ;  but  more  proba 
bly  for  some  personal  predilection,  which  did  not 
operate  in  the  cases  of  other  scientific  officers. 

When  it  is  remembered  with  how  much  difficulty, 
and  at  what  dear  pecuniary  cost,  many  of  these  offi 
cers  procured  their  original  commissions  in  the  navy 
of  their  country,  the  present  case  will  seem  pecu 
liarly  appalling.  The  hard  earnings  of  their  parents, 
the  cost  of  years  of  sacrifice,  deprivation,  and  toil, 
have  been  given,  and  given  freely,  to  members  of 
Congress,  as  a  bonus  for  the'  midshipmari's  warrant. 


270  THE   AMERICAN   NAVY. 

The  pride  of  country,  the  desire  of  name  in  its 
service,  for  that  son  on  whom  they  had  fixed  their 
hopes  for  distinction  and  exaltation,  has,  in  many 
instances,  induced  parents  in  our  land,  in  humble 
circumstances,  to  forego  comfort,  and,  oftentimes, 
the  education  of  the  other  children,  to  minister  to  the 
grasping  desire  and  corrupt  exactions  of  members  of 
Congress,  in  order  to  obtain  this  boon  for  a  meritori 
ous  son  ;  and  which  would  readily  have  been  ten 
dered,  without  solicitation,  to  the  wealthy  and  influ 
ential  of  their  districts,  whose  favor  their  selfish  thirst 
for  power  and  place  would  lead  them  to  propitiate. 

How  much  benefit,  how  much  relief,  would  this 
money  noiy  be  to  the  suffering  families  of  the  coun 
try  reduced  by  the  "  Navy  Retiring  Board  "  !  Will 
not  members  of  Congress,  who  voted  blindly  for  the 
bill,  feel  it  a  moral  duty,  at  least,  to  redress  the 
rights  of  these  officers  now,  if  they  will  not  restore 
to  them  this  unlawful  pecuniary  gain  ?  Let  such 
remember  that  the  condition  upon  which  the  pur 
chase-money  was  paid  has  been  abrogated.  The 
contract  was  for  lifet  unless  proved,  by  affair  trial, 
unworthy  to  serve  under  the  national  flag. 

A  member  of  Congress  from  New  York  State 
was  asked  for  his  influence  in  behalf  of  a  promising 


THE   AMERICAN   NAVY.  271 

young  man  in  adverse  circumstances.  He  said  that 
he  would  interpose  if  he  were  paid  five  hundred 
dollars.  The  case  thus  looked  hopeless  ;  for  the  ap 
plicant  was  poor,  and  such  a  demand  was  too  much 
to  exact  of  his  father.  The  matter  was  laid  before 
the  family  circle  for  discussion,  and  decided  favor 
ably  for  the  son.  The  only  five  hundred  dollars  the 
father  had  in  the  world  was  paid  this  member,  who, 
pulling  out  the  blank  warrant  from  his  pocket, 
where  it  was  at  the  first  interview,  filled  it  with 
the  young  man's  name,  and  took  his  money.  He 
is  now  a  victim  of  the  executive  vengeance. 

Has  the  remedy  been  provided  by  Congress  to 
restore  to  health  this  paralyzed  arm  of  the  public 
service  ?  It  has  not.  The  Senate  passed  a  bill 
which  gives  these  injured  officers  the  benefit  of  a 
court  of  inquiry,  which  shall  decide  upon  the  action 
of  the  Navy  Retiring  Board ;  and  this  court  is  to 
submit  to  the  President  of  the  United  States  its 
findings  for  his  approval.  If  the  sentence  of  the 
Navy  Board  is  decided  to  be  unjust,  the  President 
can  renominate  those  dropped  officers  to  the  Senate 
for  restoration,  and  place  on  the  active  list  officers 
retired  by  the  unjust  proceeding  of  the  board.  If 
a  dropped  officer  shall  not  be  restored  within  one 


272  THE   AMERICAN   NAVY. 

year  from  the  passage  of  the  law,  he  shall  be 
entitled  to  one  year's  pay  of  the  grade  to  which  he 
belonged.  The  President,  also,  is  empowered  by 
this  act  to  transfer  any  furloughed  officer  to  the  re 
served  pay-list,  and  make  him,  as  before,  eligible 
to  promotion.  To  the  President,  therefore,  the 
power  will  be  given,  by  and  with  the  consent  of  the 
Senate,  to  restore,  within  one  year  after  the  act 
shall  have  become  law,  any  dropped,  retired,  or  fur 
loughed  officer  to  the  same  grade  he  would  have 
occupied  had  the  Navy  Board  never  had  an  exist 
ence. 

The  objection  to  this  Senate  act  is,  that  it  calls 
an  officer  to  trial  for  mental,  moral,  or  physical 
incompetency,  upon  unconstitutional  grounds,  after 
he  has  been  convicted  and  punished.  It  allows 
officers  to  submit  to  an  investigation  into  their  past 
lives,  simply  because  a  cabal  of  designing  men  saw 
fit,  without  the  authority  of  law,  and  for  private 
reasons,  to  destroy  them,  and  then  fill  their  places. 
But  it  has  other  advantages,  which  no  high-toned 
officer  should  overlook.  It  will,  if  made  a  law  of 
Congress,  oblige  that  Navy  Board  to  appear  before 
the  court  of  inquiry,  and  compel  them  to  expose 
the  reasons  which  influenced  their  individual  action. 


THE   AMERICAN   NAVY.  273 

In  this  point  of  view,  we  say,  honorable  inen,  who 
have  nothing  to  fear  from  public  scrutiny,  would 
rejoice  at  the  prospect  of  bringing  their  defamers 
to  trial.  And,  with  an  American  President,  of 
any  party,  who  will  not  dodge  responsibility,  the 
navy  of  the  country  would  be  reinstated,  the  honor 
of  brave  men  vindicated,  and  some  redress  afforded 
for  their  past  suffering. 

But,  Americans,  that  Senate  bill  we  believe  to 
be  a  mere  pretence,  which  never  will  be  passed  if  the 
same  influence  continues  to  prevail  in  the  House 
which  did  in  the  Senate.  Why?  Because  its 
ostensible  friends  know  it  to  be  such.  The  Presi 
dent  has  the  same  power  now  to  nominate  that  he 
would  have  after  the  passage  of  the  act, — so  said 
Mr.  Mallory  to  Mr.  Bell ;  arid  who  believes  Mr. 
Pierce  would  stultify  himself  any  more  than  he  has 
done  by  nominating  the  very  men  he  has  con 
demned  ?  Mr.  Bocock,  of  the  naval  committee  of 
the  House  of  Representatives,  is  the  pliant  friend 
of  Mr.  Mallory  and  the  board,  and  introduced  the 
amendment  to  the  Senate  bill,  to  destroy  the  court 
of  inquiry,  by  giving  the  President  the  power  to 
nominate  (which  he  already  possessed),  purposely 

to  defeat  its  passage.     He  did  it  to  protect  the 
12* 


274  Tlffi  AMERICA!*  NAVY. 

board  from  public  exposure  before  the  court  of 
inquiry,  and  had  already  distinguished  himself  as 
the  author  of  the  clause  in  the  law  to  drop  officers. 

Mr.  Mallory,  the  person  who  devised  the  deep 
and  villanous  scheme  to  destroy  our  American  men, 
is  a.  foreigner^  §  West  Indian,  and  his  wife  is  a 
Spanish  woman.  What  a  commentary  upon  our 
nationality,  to  have  a  foreigner  come  and  exercise 
the  privilege  of  tearing  our  navy  to  pieces,  and 
adding  to  the  weeping  and  wailing  of  this  people, 
who,  four  years  ago,  were  laughing  with  national 
heartiness  at  the  sure  prospect  of  peace  and  prog 
ress  1 

A  navy  that  has  had  a  Stewart, —  the  Nelson  of 
the  service,  —  a  Decatur,  a  McDonough,  a  Law 
rence,  and  a  Perry,  of  Lake  Erie  memory  ;  a  navy 
that  for  seventy  years  has  braved  the  breeze  in 
distant  seas  and  in  foreign  climes,  to  be  now  over 
slaughed  under  our  own  flag,  and  by  a  foreigner, 
is  enough  to  make  the  nation  ring.  Are  all  our 
heroes  dead? 

Another  of  the  follies  of  the  late  Senate  bill  is 
the  introduction  of  flag-captains,  by  Messrs.  Mai- 
lory,  Shubrick,  &  Co.  Capt.  Shubrick,  the  insti 
gator,  it  is,  said,  craves  the  admiralty,  for  which 


THE   AMERICAN   NAVY.  275 

he  is  as  unfit  as  he  is  unscrupulous  in  his  efforts 
to  obtain  it. 

Shubrick,  then,  by  his  own  act,  put  himself  in 
the  safe  line  of  promotion ;  and  Commodore  Morris' 
death  has  made  him,  with  all  his  unfitness,  heir 
apparent.  Hence  the  ridiculous  idea  of  the  flag 
captaincy  in  the  American  navy.  The  material 
of  our  navy  bears  no  comparison  with  that  of  other 
nations ;  and  this  is  the  reform  we  need  to  exalt  the 
nation,  instead  of  ruining  its  personelle.  We  want  a 
navy  to  progress  with  our  country's  growth,  in  the 
quality  of  our  ships  and  efficiency  of  our  men. 
For  a  whole  year  there  was  but  one  single  ship 
bearing  our  national  flag  in  the  Baltic  Sea,  while 
so  much  of  our  commerce  needed  to  be  protected. 
And,  while  our  resources,  properly  managed,  could 
make  a  navy  to  meet  the  world,  we  have  but 
little  improvement  in  naval  construction  in  the  last 
forty  years.  Why?  Because  the  navy  commis 
sioners  and  navy  bureaus  have  ruined  the  navy. 
These  men,  put  in  places  which  properly  belong  to 
civilians,  have  squandered  millions  of  the  nation's 
money,  without  benefiting  the  country  or  service 
in  any  sense  whatever.  Where  is  there  any  evi 
dence  of  originality,  any  evidence  of  benefit,  by 


THE  AMERICAN   NAVY. 


the  enormous  outlays  of  these  bureaus  ?  We  chal 
lenge  these  men  to  point  to  any  improvement  in 
naval  architecture  originating  with  them.  All  the 
improvements  of  any  importance  have  been  ob 
tained  from  other  nations ;  and  were  the  United 
States  to  go  to  war  to-morrow,  we  should  find  our 
men-of-war  thirty  years  behind  the  advancement 
of  all  other  maritime  nations. 

Thus,  my  countrymen,  you  have  before  you  the 
history  of  the  transactions  of  the  Retiring  Navy 
Board,  which,  like  a  dark  cloud,  hang  over  the 
proud  and  gallant  navy  of  your  country,  which  has 
reaped  so  many  triumphant  laurels,  enkindled  the 
fire  of  patriotism  in  the  breasts  of  so  many  noble 
officers  and  aspiring  youth,  and  spread  the  glory  of 
her  achievements  and  emulous  prowess  over  the 
whole  globe.  The  injustice,  the  stigma,  of  these 
transactions,  will  forever  blot  the  annals  of  Presi 
dent  Pierce's  administration  ;  because  they  are  not 
for  a  day,  but  will  go  down,  on  the  stream  of  time, 
to  posterity,  to  tell  the  ignominious  story  of  the  late 
Navy  Board,  and  to  raise  a  blush  on  the  cheek  of 
our  patriotic  countrymen,  who  scorn  such  inglorious 
deeds,  while,  at  the  same  time,  they  honor  with 
increased  estimation,  and  renewed  plaudits  of  ap- 


THE   AMERICAN   NAVY.  277 

probation,  the  suffering  but  noble-hearted  and  high- 
minded  victims  of  a  false  policy  and  a  cruel  oppres 
sion. 


AN  AMERICAN  HERO 

THE    VICTIM    OF    A    CONSPIRACY. 

* 

CAPTAIN  BARTLETTS  VINDICATION. 


CHAPTER  I. 

Now,  after  the  exposition  given  in  the  preced 
ing  chapter,  can  the  public  wonder  at  the  atro 
cious  outrage  perpetrated  upon  so  many  distin 
guished  Americans,  under  the  administration  of 
J.  C.  Dobbin,  of  the  Navy  Department  ?  Can  it 
wonder  that  a  set  of  conspirators  to  rob  and 
plunder  the  name  and  fame  of  good  men,  did 
walk  into  the  department,  and  signifying  to  Mr. 
Dobbin  that  they  were  the  proper  parties  to  reform 
the  service,  set  about  the  work,  institute  an  Inqui 
sition,  create  a  clerkship  to  their  board,  and  give 
Dobbin  the  appointment  ? 

This  is  precisely  what  they  did  actually  do ! 
Chief  Justice  Gilchrist,  in  his  unanswered  argument 
in  the  case  of  the  "  Brig  Armstrong,"  says,  "  If  the 

278 


THE   VICTIM   OF   A   CONSPIRACY.  279 

United  States,  in  the  plenitude  of  their  power,  see 
Jit  to  submit  the  claims  of  a  citizen  to  arbitration 
without  his  assent,  ought  they  not  to  make  the  most 
full  and  ample  provision,  that  he  shall  be  fully  and 
fairly  heard,  and  that  he  shall  have  all  reasonable 
opportunity  to  lay  before  the  abitrator  the  evidence 
on  which  he  relies  ?  An  award  made,  without  the 
party  having  had  an  opportunity  to  be  heard,  rests 
neither  upon  law  nor  justice"  "  The  position"  he 
adds,  "  that  every  party  should  have  an  opportunity 
to  be  heard  before  the  tribunal  that  is  to  pass  judg 
ment  on  his  rights,  needs  no  labored  argument  to 
support  it.  It  has  been  repeatedly  asserted  by  the 
most  eminent  jurists"  In  Regden  vs.  Martin,  6 
H.  &  Johns.,  403,  the  court  said  :  "  That  the  par 
ties  ought  to  have  notice  of  the  time  of  meeting,  is 
a  position  so  strongly  supported  by  common  justice 
that  it  would  seem  not  to  require  the  aid  of  authori 
ties.  Every  man  ought  to  have  an  opportunity 
afforded  him  to  be  heard  in  defence  of  his  rights" 
In  Falconer  vs.  Montgomery,  4  Dallas,  232,  it  is 
said  :  "  The  plainest  dictates  of  natural  justice  must 
prescribe  to  every  tribunal  the  law  that  '  no  man 
shall  be  condemned  unheard  '  It  is  not  merely  an 
abstract  rule,  or  positive  right,  but  it  is  the  result  of 
long  experience  and  a  wise  attention  to  the  feelings 


280  AN   AMERICAN   HERO 

and  dispositions  of  human  nature.  *  *  *  * 
Besides,  there  is  scarcely  a  piece  of  written  evi 
dence,  or  a  sentence  of  oral  testimony,  that  is  not 
susceptible  of  some  explanation,  or  exposed  to 
some  Contradiction  ;  there  is  scarcely  an  argument 
that  may  not  be  elucidated  so  as  to  insure  suc 
cess,  or  be  controverted  so  as  to  prevent  it.  To 
exclude  the  party,  therefore,  from  the  opportunity 
of  interposing  in  any  of  these  modes  (which  the 
most  candid  and  intelligent,  but  a  disinterested 
person,  may  easily  overlook)  is  not  only  a  priva 
tion  of  his  right,  but  an  act  of  injustice  to  the 
umpire,  whose  mind  might  be  materially  influ 
enced  by  such  an  interposition."  In  the  case  of 
Lutz  vs.  Linthicum,  8  Peters,  178,  Mr.  Justice 
Story  said  :  "  Without  question,  due  notice  should 
be  given  to  the  parties  of  the  time  and  place  of 
hearing  the  case  ;  and  if  the  award  was  made 
without  such  notice,  it  ought,  upon  the  plainest 
principles  of  justice,  to  beset  aside."  In  Elmen- 
dorf  vs.  Harris,  23  Wend.,  628,  it  was  laid  down 
as  a  fundamental  rule  of  construction  in  reference 
to  every  transaction  in  the  nature  of  a  judicial 
proceeding,  that  the  contract  of  submission  ne 
cessarily  implies  that  the  arbitrator  is  not  author 
ized  or  empowered  to  decide  the  question  in  con- 


THE   VICTIM   OF   A   CONSPIRACY.  281 

troversy,  without  giving  the  parties  an  opportu 
nity  to  be  heard  in  relation  thereto. 

We  now  proceed  to  the  case  of  Lieutenant 
Washington  Allen  Bartlett,  who,  by  the  deepest 
malignity,  jealousy,  and  injustice,  has  been 
dropped  from  the  naval  service  of  his  country, 
by  the  late  "Naval  Retiring  Board."  And  we 
shall  cite  this  most  remarkable  one  in  its  interest 
ing  detail,  because  it  has  alone  been  the  subject 
of  examination  before  the  Naval  Committee  of 
the  United  States  Senate,  and  will  alone  break 
and  wither  the  whole  action  of  that  stupendous 
and  most  unparalleled  iniquity. 

Indeed,  we  have  no  choice  but  to  use  his  case, 
for  it  is  only  through  it,  and  Biddle's  disgraceful 
letter  to  the  distinguished  Maury,  that  we  are 
able  to  see  behind  the  curtain  of  the  Inquisition. 

Lieutenant  Bartlett  was  on  duty  upon  the  coast 
of  Africa,  as  first  lieutenant  of  the  flag-ship,  when 
the  Council  of  Fifteen  struck  his  name  from  the 
rolls  of  the  navy!  Not  a  single  allegation  of 
any  kind,  verbally  or  in  writing,  had  ever  ap 
peared  against  him  in  the  Navy  Department,  in 
any  form.  And  we  here  insert  the  letter  of  the 
Secretary  to  Mrs.  Bartlett,  who,  stricken  down 
by  the  sudden  and  unexpected  attempt  to  put 


282  AN   AMERICAN   HERO 

disgrace  upon  the  good  name  of  her  husband, 
writes,  in  the  anguish  of  her  soul,  like  a  true 
woman,  to  know,  why  his  fair  fame  as  an  officer 
has  been  outraged  ? 

NIVT  DEPARTMKNT,  Sept.  SQifi,  1855. 

MADAM;: — Yonr  letter  of  the  18th  instant  has  been  received. 
The  board  of  naval  officers,  recently  convened  in  Washington,  in 
accordance  with  the  law,  merely  reported  the  names  and  ranks  of 
officers  who,  in  their  judgment,  came  within  the  provisions  of  the 
recent  act  of  Congress,  but  not  the  facts  or  the  grounds  upon  which 
their  action  is  based.  No  charges  were  preferred  against  any 
officer.  You  will  perceive,  therefore,  that  I  am  unable  to  comply 
witli  your  request  to  know  what  the  charges  were  against  Lieuten 
ant  Bartlett. 

I  am,  very  respectfully, 

Your  obedient  servant, 

J.  C,  DOBBIN. 
MBS.  WASHIHGIOS  BARTLCTT,  Note  York. 

This,  the  only  official  notice  to  this  hour  re 
ceived,  accompanied  by  the  endearing  solace  of 
her  who  best  knew  his  worth,  met  him  on  active 
duty  abroad,  and  instantly  created  the  deepest 
and  most  unfeigned  sorrow  among  all  with  whom 
he  was  associated.  And  so  highly  was  Lieuten 
ant  Bartlett  esteemed  by  officers  and  crew,  as  an 
officer,  a  gentleman,  and  a  friend,  that  the  sepa 
ration,  by  those  who  witnessed  it,  is  said  to  have 
been  one  of  the  most  painfully  affecting  ever  seen 
upon  a  frigate's  deck,  and  resembled,  from  its 
inexplicable  character,  and  the  emotions  thereby 
a  funeral  at  sea ! 


THE   VICTIM   OF   A  CONSPIRACY.  283 


SECTION   I. 

We  here  insert,  as  corroboratory,  the  distin 
guished  testimonials  of  his  commodore,  com 
manders,  associates,  and  subalterns : 

Testimonial  of  Commodore  Crabbe,  U.  8.  Navy. 

U.  8.  SHIP  JAMBSTOWN, 
PORTO  GRAKDB,  Oct.  2&Z,  1856. 

SIR  : — I  have  received  your  letter  of  this  day's  date,  containing 
a  copy  of  a  letter  from  the  honorable  Secretary  of  the  Navy  to  Mrs. 
Bartlett,  [the  same  published  in  the  body  of  the  memorial,]  in  rela 
tion  to  your  retirement  from  the  navy  of  the  United  States. 

Although  I  have  not  received  anything  official  from  the  Depart 
ment  upon  the  subject,  yet  the  Hon.  Secretary's  letter  to  Mrs.  Bart 
lett,  and  the  reasons  set  forth  by  yourself,  will,  no  doubt,  justify  me 
in  relieving  you  from  further  duty  on  board  this  ship.  In  doing  so, 
however,  I  cannot  avoid  saying  that  I  deeply  regret  the  loss  of  your 
services.  Your  gentlemanly  and  officer-like  bearing,  whilst  under 
iny  command,  has  uniformly  met  my  warmest  approbation. 
I  am,  with  great  respect,  your  obedient  servant, 

THOMAS  CHABBE, 
Commander-in-chief  of  U.  S. 

Naval  Forces,  Coast  of  Africa. 

To  LIEUT.  W.  A.  BARTLSTT, 

U.  &  Ship  Jamestown. 


Letter  from  Commander  F.  B.  Ellison,  U.  S.  Navy. 

HBMPSTEAD,  LONG  ISLAND,  Janiiary  17JA,  1866. 

DEAR  SIR  : — In  reply  to  your  request  that  I  would  state  my  opin 
ion  of  your  efficiency  as  an  officer,  and  your  deportment  as  a  gen 
tleman,  during  our  recent  association  on  board  the  "Jamestown," 
where  you  served  under  my  command,  I  with  great  pleasure  say, 
that  in  every  particular,  as  a  zealous  and  capable  officer,  and  a  well- 
informed,  intelligent  gentleman,  I  regarded  you  as  most  exemplary. 
Commodore  Crabbe  frequently  expressed  himself  to  me  in  very 


284  AN   AMERICAN   HERO 

warm  terms  of  you,  as  a  highly  accomplished  officer,  and  like  ex 
pressions  were  made  from  all  your  messmates  in  the  ward-room, 
showing  a  uniformity  of  opinion  throughout  the  ship. 

Sincerely  trusting  that  the  error  which  seems  to  have  been  made 
in  your  case  may  speedily  be  rectified,  and  that  you  may  be  honor 
ably  restored  to  your  former  position  in  the  navy, 
I  am,  very  truly, 

Your  obedient  servant  and  friend, 
FRANCIS  B.  ELLISON, 

Commander  U.  S.  Navy. 

W.  A.  BARTLETT,  Esq., 

Washington,  D.  G. 

Testimonial  of  Lieut.  Commanding,  James  F.  Armstrong. 

U.  8.  FLAG-SHIP  JAMESTOWN, 
PORTO  GRANDE,  ST.  VINCENT,  Oct.  23d,  1856. 

DEAR  SIR  : — In  forwarding  you  the  enclosed  letter  from  Commo 
dore  Crabbe,  relieving  you  from  further  duty  in  this  ship,  I  beg 
leave  to  assure  you  of  my  deepest  regret  for  the  cause  that  has  pro 
duced  it,  and  for  the  interruption  of  an  intercourse  and  association 
always  confidential,  harmonious,  and  friendly.,, ^  jo«j,,-. 

I  shall  ever  esteem  you,  in  your  character,  as  an  officer  and  gen 
tleman,  and,  in  parting  from  you,  tender  you  my  sincere  wishes  for 
your  restoration  to  the  service,  and  for  your  future  welfare. 
Very  respectfully,  your  obedient  servant, 

JAB.  FBANCIS  ARMSTRONG, 

Lieut.  Commanding. 
Lorrr.  WASHINGTON  A.  BARTLETT, 

U.  8.  Ship  Jam&town. 


Testimonial  of  all  the  Commissioned  Officers  of  the  U.  8.  Flag-ship 
Jamestown. 

PORTO  GBAICDE,  ST.  VINCENT,  Oct.  24<A,  1856. 

DEAR  SIR  : — "We  entertain  too  high  an  appreciation  of  your  char 
acter  as  a  gentleman  and  an  officer,  and  too  warm  a  regard  for  you 
as  a  messmate  and  friend,  to  allow  you  to  leave  us  without  saying 
to  you,  in  the  sincerity  of  our  hearts,  that  we  deeply  regret  that  you 
are  about  to  part  from  us,  and,  above  all,  the  cause  that  takes  you 
away. 


THE  VICTIM  OF   A  CQtfSTOACY.  285 


la  the  difficult  and  responsible  relation  that  you  have  sustained 
to  us,  as  executive  officer  of  the  ship,  you  have  ever,  whilst  dis 
charging  your  duties  with  fidelity,  borne  yourself  toward  us  with 
the  utmost  frankness,  cpnciliation,  and  courtesy.  And,  in  the  more 
intimate  and  kindly  relation,  as  a  member  of  the  little  society  that 
we  form  amongst  ourselves,  and  which  can  subsist  in  harmony  only 
by  mutual  cultivation  of  friendly  feelings  and  the  practice  of  friendly 
offices,  you  have  endeared  yourself  to  us  by  your  uniform  amiability 
of  disposition,  and  by  the  desire  that  you  have  ever  evinced  to 
cherish  the  most  cordial  intercourse  with  us  all. 

We,  therefore,  beg  to  assure  you  that,  in  parting  from  us,  you  are 
taking  leave  of  those  who  will  ever  remember  you  with  pleasure,. 
and  who,  whatever  fortunes  may  betide  you,  will  always  continue 
your  well-wishers  and  friends. 

Ever,  very  truly,  yours, 
GKO.  CLTMEE, 

•         4*     • 

Fleet  Surgeon,  ranking  with  Commander. 
T.  H.  PATTERSON,  Lieutenant. 
EDWARD  BARNETT,  Lieutenant. 
T.  M.  TAYLOR,  Purser  (rank  of  Commander.) 
JULIAN  MYERS,  Lieutenant. 
SAMUEL  RICHARD  SWANN,  Ass't  Surgeon. 
JOHN  L.  HEYLEN,  Commodore's  Secretary. 
JNO.  E.  HABT,  Acting  Master  and  Lieut. 
JAS.  M.  BRADFORD,  Acting  Lieut. 
CHAS.  W.  THOMAS,  Chaplain 
la.  WASHINGTON  A.  IURTLBTT. 

_  » 

•J'*^.!  IL    VJUll     i    '.    i*   I  tr»:  :•<;    )    i-UJOV/    JIJWU    Ulli     *it».  iht 

Letter  from  the  Junior  Officers  of  the  Jamestown. 

U.  S.  SHIP  JAMESTOWN, 
POBTO  GRANDE,  ST.  VINCBHT,  Oct.  24«A,  1855. 

SIR:  —  You  are  about  to  return  to  your  home;  in  so  doing,  the 
members  of  the  steerage  feel  it  their  duty  to  express  to  you  their 
deep  regret,  and  their  sincere  gratitude  for  the  extreme  kindness 
with  which  you  have  universally  treated  them,  during  the  time 
they  have  had  the  pleasure  of  being  under  your  command.  You 
may  be  assured  that,  after  your  leaving  us,  you  will  ever  be  cher 
ished  in  our  memory  with  feelings  of  the  highest  regard  and  esteem, 
in  your  character  as  an  officer  and  gentleman. 


286  AN   AMERICAN   HBttO 

Sir,  we  bid  you,  with  sorrow,  a  hearty  farewell;  with  many 
wishes  for  your  future  welfare  and  happiness, 

Believe  us,  very  respectfully,  your  obedient  servants, 
N.  B.  COXCKLIN,  M.  Mate. 
0.  W.  LAWRENCE,  M.  Mate. 
YAL.  HALL  VOORHEES,  M.  Mate. 
O.  N.  HENKBL,  M.  Mate. 
H.  B.  JOHNSON,  C.  Clerk. 

LIEUT.  W.  A.  BAKTLBTT,  U.  8.  Aavy. 

Now  we  challenge  for  these  papers  a  comparison 
with  any  testimonials  ever  bestowed  upon  the 
most  distinguished  of  our  officers  by  his  brothers 
in  arms.  They  testify  to  his  competency  and 
efficiency  in  every  relation  in  which  he  was  called 
to  act  as  an  officer.  And  will  it  not  be  perceived 
from  these  testimonials  that,  considering  the  deli 
cate  and  responsible  position  which  the  executive 
officer  bears  towards  all  above  and  below  him,  that 
they  exhibit  the  clearest  evidence  that  the  frigate 
"  Jamestown"  was,  under  Lieut.  Bartlett's  admi 
nistration,  in  the  highest  state  of  efficiency  ?  Every 
officer  ancl  man  would  cheerfully  follow  the  lead 
of  one  whom  they  held  in  such  confidence  and 
admiration  ;  and  to  whom  they  could  look  in 
whatever  emergency  might  arise  on  their  cruise. 

And  this  being  the  moment  when  Lieut.  Bart- 
lett  ceased  his  naval  services,  it  is  proper  here  to 
review  in  part  his  naval  career. 

His  immediate  commanders  during  the  Mexican 


THE   VICTIM   OF   A  CONSPIRACY.  287 

j,*J 

War  were  Commodore  Lavallette  and  Capt.  J.  B. 
Montgomery.  Their  testimonials  are  sufficient 
without  a  single  comment. 

Testimonial  of  Commodore  E.  A.  F.  Lavallette  on  the  services  of 
Lieut.  Bartlett  in  the  Pacific  Squadron. 

PHILADELPHIA,  January  28d,  1856. 

DEAR  SIB  : — I  received  your  letter  of  the  22d  instant,  in  which 
you  state,  that  "  while  absent  from  the  country,  serving  as  first- 
lieutenant  of  the  flag-ship  of  the  African  squadron,  it  has  pleased 
the  late  '  Navy  Board '  to  present  my  name  to  the  President  to  be 
stricken  from  the  rolls  as  lieutenant  in  the  Navy. 

"  I  had  the  honor  to  serve  under  your  command  as  a  midshipman, 
and  again  as  a  lieutenant,  commanding  the  armed  prize  brig  Argo 
in  the  Gulf  of  California,  and  in  the  attack  on  Guaymas,  and  its 
occupation.  On  that  occasion  you  did  tne  the  honor  to  assign  me 
the  most  advanced  post,  on  the  night  previous  to  the  attack,  out  of 
supporting  distance  of  the  guns  of  the  squadron,  and  out  of  sight, 
being  covered  by  the  island  which  separated  me  from  the  squadron. 

"How  did  I  bear  myself  on  that  occasion?  Did  I  meet  your 
expectations  or  not? 

u  From  your  knowledge  of  me,  my  abilities  and  acquirements,  was 
or  was  I  not  an  efficient  officer  of  the  Pacific  squadron  during  the 
Mexican  "War?" 

In  answer,  I  have  to  state,  that  your  foregoing  statements  of  our 
operations  in  the  Gulf  of  California  are  correct  in  every  particular. 
Your  conduct  on  that  occasion  not  only  met  my  approbation,  by 
the.  activity,  energy  and  skill  which  you  displayed  in  getting  your 
gun  landed,  merited — and  the  effect  which  it  produced  by  your 
management,  upon  the  works  of  the  enemy  entitled  you  to — the 
highest  praise. 

Your  abilities  and  acquirements  I  consider  quite  equal  to  any  of 
your  grade,  and  very  superior  to  very  many  of  them.     I  certainly 
viewed  you  as  an  efficient  officer  of  the  Pacific  squadron. 
I  am  respectfully, 

Your  obedient  servant, 

E.  A.  F.  LAVALLETTE. 

WASH'S  A.  BARTLETT,  Esq., 

Late  Lieut.  U.  8.  Jfavy,  Wat/tinffto*  City,  D.  O. 


Jtf  6    '  .» 'li  B  WASHINGTON,  D.  C.,  February  18, 1856. 

MY  DEAR  SIB: — Your  letter  of  the  6th  instant  was  handed  me, 
and  shonld  have  been  Sooner  answered,  but  for  pressing  engage 
ments,  which  have  occupied  my  time  since  its  receipt.  You  state: 
"It  has  become  necessary  that  I  should  exhibit  to  the  Government, 
to  Congress,  and  to  the  people,  such  concise  testimony  as  I  can 
obtain  as  to  my  efficiency  and  qualifications  as  an  officer  of  the 
Navy — from  which  I  have  been  most  unjustly  dismissed — and,  there 
fore,  I  appeal  to  you  to  state  in  whatever  manner  and  form  you  may 
please,  whether  I  was  or  was  not  an  efficient  and  capable  officer  in 
all  particulars  and  at  all  times,  as  an  upright,  capable,  and  zealous 
officer  of  your  ship  and  of  the  Navy ;  and  whether,  by  act  or  deed, 
which  may  have  come  to  your  knowledge,  I  ever  attempted,  in  any 
manner,  to  avoid  responsibility,  or  aught  which  friend  or  foe  could 
allege  against  me ;  or  whether  any  circumstances  of  duty,  or  other 
wise,  ever  impaired  my  usefulness  or  your  confidence  in  my  integrity 
and  ability,"  etc. 

I  have  quoted  largely  from  your  letter,  in  order  to  a  more  succinct 
and  direct  reply  to  the  several  inquiries  contained  in  it. 

In  reply,  therefore,  I  take  pleasure  in  stating  that  during  your 
long  service — from  November  1844  to  May  1848 — in  the  United 
States  ship  Portsmouth,  under  my  command,  with  the  «sual  oppor 
tunities  enjoyed  by  naval  commanders  of  forming  a  just  estimate  of 
the  merits  and  qualifications  of  those  serving  under  them,  I  have  no 
hesitation  whatever  in  bearing  my  testimony  to  your  high  mental 
and  physical  qualifications  and  efficiency  as  an  officer  of  the  Navy, 
and  an  accomplished  sea-officer. 

At  all  times,  and  in  all  circumstances,  I  found  you  ready  and 
willing  for  the  various  duties  assigned  you,  on  shore  and  on  ship 
board,  and  ever  prompt,  .zealous,  and  capable  in  the  performance 
of  them.  I  always  regarded  you,  sir,  as  a  most  useful  officer,  not 
only  in  the  proper  line  of  professional  employment,  but  as  interpreter 
and  translator  of  important  official  correspondence  during  the  revo 
lutionary  movements  in  California  and  the  war  with  Mexico  which 
followed ;  your  services  were  of  signal  importance  to  your  com 
mander,  and  (as  regarded  by  him)  to  the  public  interests  at  tho 
time. 

"When,  in  the  course  of  events,  after  the  occupancy  of  San  Fran 
cisco,  it  became  necessary  to  establish  the  magistracy  of  that  place, 
the  duties  of  alcalde  were  assigned  to  you,  and  discharged  with  a 


THE   VICTIM    OF   A   CONSPIRACY.  289 

faithfulness  and  ability  which  claimed  for  you  the  commendation  of 
your  immediate  commander,  as  well  as  that  of  the  commander-in 
chief;  and  the  people  of  the  district,  when  required  to  elect  their 
civil  officers,  manifested  their  high  appreciation,  of  your  character 
and  services  in  the  magistracy,  in  According  to  you  an  overwhelming 
vote  (over  several  candidates)  for  your  continuance  in  office. 

During  your  service  under  my  command  you  certainly  did  possess 
my  confidence  as  an  upright,  intelligent,  and  most  capable  officer  of 
the  ship  and  of  the  Navy. 

Allegations  were  brought  to  my  notice  by  officers  of  the  Ports 
mouth,  at  San  Francisco,  in  1846,  which  you  promptly  met,  by  a 
demand  for  immediate  investigation  by  court-martial  or  court  of 
inquiry,  which  the  exigency  of  the  public  service  precluded,  at  the 
time.  I  should  have  deemed  it  exceedingly  unjust  to  you,  sir,  as 
well  as  to  my  own  feelings,  to  have  suffered  any  permanent  impres 
sion  to  your  prejudice,  on  my  mind,  until  sufficient  evidence  had 
been  adduced  before  a  competent  tribunal — until  shown  to  be  true. 

I  know  of  nothing  that  occurred  during  the  cruise  of  the  Ports 
mouth,  or  since,  to  the  present  £ime,  that  ought  in  anywise  to 
diminish  my  friendly  regard,  or  impair  my  confidence  in  your 
integrity,  high  capabilities,  and  usefulness,  as  a  naval  officer. 

I  trust,  my  dear  sir,  that  you  may  speedily  satisfy  the  Govern 
ment,  Congress,  and  the  people,  of  your  innocence  of  any  and  all 
allegations  of  a  prejudicial  character,  which  may  have  operated  in 
any  degree  in  procuring  your  recent  dismissal  from  the  Navy,  and, 
by  a  speedy  restoration,  have  it  again  in  your  power  to  render 
valuable  service  to  your  country,  for  which.  I  regard  you  eminently 
qualified. 

Very  truly,  I  am  your  friend  and  obedient  servant, 

J,   B.   MoNTGOMEKY, 

Captain  U.  S.  Nwoy. 

W.  A.  BAXTUTT,  Esq. 

» 

SECTION   IL 

The  war  having  ended,  and  no  further  field  for 
active  naval  service  being  presented,  Lieut.  Bart- 
lett  accepts  i  the  louder  of  the  command  of  the 

13 


290  AN    AMERICAN   HERO 

Ewing,  in  the  service  of  the  coast  survey,  to 
return  to  the  Pacific  Ocean,  where  he  already 
had  had  eight  years  of  active  duty.  How 
faithfully  he  performed  these  services  is  best 
exhibited  by  the  appreciation  of  the  distin 
guished  superintendent  of  the  survey,  A.  D. 
Bache,  LL.D. 

The  late  Lieutenant,  Commanding,  "Wm.  P. 
McArthur,  being  the  hydrographical  chief  of  the 
western  coast,  having  deceased,  in  an  eulogy 
delivered  by  Professor  Bache  to  his  memory  at 
Washington,  we  find  this  reference  to  the  emi 
nent  services  of  Lieutenants  McArthur  and 
Bartlett : 

The  work  which  he  accomplished  will  live  for  ever  f  Surrounded 
by  circumstances  the  most  difficult  perhaps  which  ever  tried  the 
constancy,  the  judgment,  the  resources  of  any  hydrographer,  he  van 
quished  circumstances.  His  reconnoissance  of  the  western  coast, 
from  Monterey  to  Columbia  river,  and  his  preliminary  surveys 
there,  were  made  in  spite  of  desertion  and  even  mutiny — in  despite 
of  the  inadequacy  of  means  to  meet  the  truly  extraordinary  cir 
cumstances  of  the  country.  Happy  that  in  his  officers  he  had  friends 
devoted  to  him  and  to  their  duties — especially  happy  in  the  officer 
next  to  him  in  the  responsibilities  of  the  work. 

And  before  the  Naval  Committee  Professor 
Bache  said : 

In  justice  to  Mr.  Bartlett,  I  should  state  briefly  what  those  ser 
vices  were.  He  took  the  schooner  Ewing,  a  small  vessel,  which 
bad  been  used  in  the  revenue  service  as  a  cutter,  from  New  York 


THE   VICTIM   OF  A  CONSPIRACY.  291 

to  San  Francisco.  "Was  active  in  pursuing  the  mutineers  who 
attempted  to  drown  Passed  Midshipman  Gibson,  of  the  schooner 
Ewing.  "Went  to  Columbia  river  with  Lieutenant  Commanding 
McArthur,  though  it  was  understood  that  unless  a  second  vessel 
were  attached  to  the  coast  survey  he  was  to  return  home.  "Was 
active,  in  the  survey  of  Columbia  river  and  the  reconnoissance  of 
the  western  coast.  The  letters  from  Lieutenant  Commanding 
McArthur  express  his  sense  of  Lieutenant  Bartlett's  services,  and 
refer  to  him  for  important  information  in  regard  to  the  coast,  show 
ing  his  confidence  in  him.  He  assisted  assiduously  in  preparing  the 
coast  survey  charts  of  the  western  coast  at  the  office. 

We  will  now  advert  for  a  moment  to  the  ser 
vices  of  Lieut.  Bartlett  at  the  mouth  of  the 
Columbia  river,  and  his  successful  labors  in  open 
ing  to  the  commerce  of  the  world  that  magnifi 
cent  water-course,  an  original  American  discovery 
of  the  last  century ;  where  Vancouver  re 
corded  his  extraordinary  want  of  judgment,  by 
placing  the  name  of  "Disappointment"  upon 
that  majestic  headland  which  stands  sentinel  at 
its  mouth,  and  upon  which  an  American  sailor 
had  already  placed  the  venerated  name  of  ' '  Han 
cock."  That  gigantic  river,  whose  beauties  are 
so  vividly  and  truthfully  daguerreotyped  by 
Washington  Irving,  in  his  "Astoria,"  but  whose 
importance  to  the  commerce  of  the  world,  and 
facilities  for  use,  were  left  to  be  exhibited  by  the 
united  efforts  of  those  energetic  and  skillful  offi 
cers,  McArthur  and  Bartlett. 


292  AN   AMERICAN   HERO 

This  will  be  the  more  apparent  when  we  state 
the  well-established  facts,  that  although  the  en 
trance  to  this  mighty  river  had  been  in  the  hands 
of  the  English  Hudson  Bay  Company  forty 
years,  and  the  South  Sea  Exploring  Expedition, 
under  its  Lieutenant-Commodore  Wilkes,  had 
spent  months  in  its  waters,  yet  it  remained 
for  all  practical  uses  as  a  great  outlet  of  com 
merce,  as  hermetically  sealed,  through  the 
imaginary  dangers  which  were  thrown  around 
its  entrance,  as  if  its  mighty  waters  had  never 
found  their  natural  course  to  the  sea. 

It  will  be  remembered  that  Wilkes  said  it  was 
necessary  to  take  the  channel  of  the  Columbia 
with  wind  and  tide  both  adverse  (a  physical  im 
possibility)  in  a  five  knot  current!  After  the 
loss  of  the  Shark,  whose  commander,  we  suppose, 
attempted  the  nautical  manoeuvre  described  by 
Wilkes,  and  the  report  and  chart  of  that  remark 
able  commander  was  given  to  the  public,,  the 
time  for  going  in  and  out  the  channel  actually 
doubled  f  The  loss  of  the  Peacock  and  Shark, 
of  the  American  Navy,  and  the  known  fact  that 
the  Hon.  Hudson  Bay  Company's  commanders 
took  forty  or  fifty  days  to  find  their  way  into  the 
channel,  and  the  same  number  to  find  their  way 


THE    VICTIM   OF  A  CONSPIRACY.  293 

out  of  it,  had  long  elicited  the  interest  of  the 
commercial  and  scientific  world.  So  far  from  gain 
ing  any  advantage  through  Wilkes,  the  smallest 
vessel  of  the  company  actually  lay  eighty-four 
days  near  the  mouth  of  the  river  (Baker's  Bay), 
with  the  Shark's  crew  on  board,  before  this 
*  ancient  mariner"  dared  to  proceed  to  sea.  And 
four  years  later,  when  the  Ewing,  with  Me  Ar 
thur  and  Bartlett  on  board,  appeared  off  the  mouth 
of  the  rive^  in  a  enow-storm,  on  the  18th  of 
April,  1850,  the  same  little  vessel  of  the  Hon. 
Company's  service,  with  the  same  commander, 
was  met  there,  having  been  cruising  off  and  on 
for  weeks,  though  anxious  to  enter,  through  fears 
of  the  imaginary  terrors  of  the  entrance !  The 
Ewing  boldly  took  the  channel,  and  the  Cadboro* 
bravely  followed  suit.  This  was  the  last  real  de 
tention  that  has  ever  occurred  at  the  mouth  of 
the  Columbia.  The  advent  of  the  Ewing  proved 
the  truth  of  Mr.  Benton's  prophecy,  five  years 
previously,  when  he  said,  in  substance,  that  not 
withstanding  this  extraordinary  report  of  Wilkes, 
the  time  would  come,  within  five  years,  when  the 
entrance  of  the  Columbia  would  be  as  practicable 
as  a  commercial  channel,  as  the  bay  of  New  York  ! 
In  order  to  show  the  true  force  of  these 


294  AN    AMERICAN    HERO 

marks,   we  place,  side  by  side,   the   reports  of 
Lieutenants  McArthur  and  Bartlett : 

September  25th,  1850,  McArthur  wrote  Pro 
fessor  Bache  : 

"Within  the  last  eighteen  months,  more  vessels  have  crossed  tho 
Columbia  river  bar,  than  had  crossed  it,  perhaps,  in  all  time  past ; 
and,  during  that  time,  no  vessel  has  received  the  slightest  injury, 
and  but  few  have  met  with  much  delay. 

I  have  examined  all  the  charts  that  have  been  made  of  the  Co 
lumbia  river  from  the  time  of  its  discovery  to  the  present,  and  find 
that  there  has  been  continued  changes  going  on,  but  at  all  times 
has  there  been  a  good  deep  channel  at  the  mouth  of  this  river. 

Report  of  Lieutenant  Washington  A.  Bartlett,  U.  S.  N.,  Assistant 
in  the  Coast  Survey,  in  relation  to  the  draught  of  vessels  which 
can  enter  the  south  channel,  Columbia  river  entrance,  Oregon. 

WASHINGTON,  November  SOtA,  1850. 

SIR: — In  answer  to  your  inquiries  as  to  the  draught  of  vessels 
which  may,  at  any  time,  be  carried  into  the  Columbia  river  by  the 
new  south  channel,  I  have  to  state  that  our  late  survey  of  that 
channel,  and  my  personal  experience  in  passing  over  the  south  bar, 
in  vessels  of  deep  draught,  show  conclusively,  that  vessels  drawing 
seventeen  feet  can  be  taken  over  the  south  bar  at  quarter  flood,  or 
three-quarter  ebb,  without  the  least  risk  of  touching,  and  twenty 
feet  can  pass  at  high  water. 

In  making  the  preceding  statement,  it  is  proper  to  state  that  I 
have  fully  considered  the  "drop"  which  a  vessel  makes  when  in 
the  swell  of  the  bar,  which  is,  however,  much  less  in  the  south  than 
in  the  old  north  channel,  when  the  wind  is  in  the  usual  northwest 
ern  quarter. 

In  the  winter,  or  spring  season,  when  the  wind  is  in  the  south, 
or  southwest  quarter,  there  is  a  lively  breaker  on  the  south  bar,  at 
which  time  it  will  be  smoothest  on  the  north  bar,  and  this  south 
erly  wind  being  fair  for  the  north  channel,  there  is  no  occasion  to 
take  the  south  bar  in  southerly  winds  going  in ;  yet,  with  a  mode 
rate  draught  in  a  sailing  vessel,  the  south  channel  is  ever  safest  in 


THE  VICTIM   OP  A  CONSPIRACY.  296 

coming  out,  although  the  wind  may  be  "dead  in"  to  the  bar;  the 
bar  being  so  short  and  quickly  passed,  that  it  is  not  necessary  to 
tack  in  shoal  water. 

The  U.  S.  steamer,  Massachusetts,  and  U.  S.  sloop-of-war,  Fal- 
mouth,  each  drawing  seventeen  feet  water,  have  passed  the  bar  of 
the  south  channel  into  the  Columbia  river  since  our  survey  was 
made. 

In  addition,  I  would  state  that  my  experience  at  the  mouth  of  the 
Columbia,  has  convinced  me  that  the  south  channel  is  the  practica 
ble  commercial  channel  of  that  river  for  certainty  and  safety,  with 
the  additional  advantage  of  accomplishing  the  passage,  to  or  from 
the  river,  without  waiting  for  a  particular  wind.  Ships  frequently 
pass  the  bar  inward,  in  fifteen  minutes  after  receiving  their  pilot, 
and  outward,  in  thirty  minutes  after  getting  their  anchors. 

A  disabled  ship,  that  can  be  sailed  so  as  to  have  good  steerage 
way,  can  pass  over  the  south  bar  in  safety,  when  it  would  be  im 
possible  to  get  her  in  by  the  north  channel. 

From  the  18th  of  April  to  the  5th  of  August,  1850,  there  was  no 
day  that  the  south  channel  was  not  practicable  for  vessels,  and  was 
in  daily  use. 

I  crossed  the  bar  (south  channel),  in  the  pilot-boat  "  Mary  Tay 
lor,"  during  the  "heaviest  bar"  that  occurred  within  the  above 
named  period,  beating  out  with  the  wind  ahead. 


SECTION   III. 

Commander  Wilkes,  whose  total  sea  service 
in  the  navy,  was  but  seven  years  and  nine 
months !  (which  will  account  for  his  want  of 
practical  ability  to  obtain  proper  deductions 
from  his  own  work),  was  made  a  post-captain 
by  the  Naval  Board,  though  he  has  not  seen 
salt  water  for  the  last  fourteen  years !  while 
Lieutenant  Bartlett's  sea  service  was  thirteen 


296  AN   AMERICAN   HERO 

years  and  nine  months,  quite  double  that  of  the 
present  Captain  Wilkes !  Such  is  "  efficiency,"  in 
the  acceptation  of  the  Board !  Had  McArthur 
lived  to  this  day,  and  remained  on  that  service, 
he  would  most  assuredly  have  been  "dropped," 
or  "  furloughed  ;"  for  Lieutenant  Maffit,  of  the 
same  date,  who  had  performed  eleven  years  of 
like  continuous  sea  service  on  the  Atlantic  coast, 
and  admitted  by  all  to  be,  like  McArthur,  with 
out  a  superior  in  the  service,  has  been  "fur 
loughed!"  We  confidently  expect,  however, 
that  Maffit  will  be  restored  (and  we  know  he 
should  be  on  his  own  merits),  because  Mr.  Dob 
bin,  having  known  him  from  boyhood,  takes  a 
personal  interest  in  him,  and,  in  defiance  of  the 
Board's  judgment,  who  had  pronounced  him 
"inefficient."  immediately  augmented  his  com 
mand  from  one  to  three  vessels,  an  honor  which 
has  not  yet  been  conferred  upon  any  one  of  that 
inquisition,  since  it  closed  its  sittings.  The  mo 
ment  the  Secretary  gave  three  vessels  to  Maffit, 
he  made  him  Naval  Commodore!  practically, 
ranking  with  the  oldest  officers  in  the  navy. 

The  publications  emanating  from  the  coast  sur 
vey  office,  relating  to  the  hydrography  of  the 
western  coast,  the  discoveries  and  minute  exam- 


THE   VICTIM   OF  A  CONSPIRACY.  297 

inations  on  the  whole  line  of  coast  from  Monterey 
to  the  Columbia,  carefully  compiled  sailing  di 
rections,  plans  for  lights,  and  other  improve 
ments  for  navigation,  which  have  been  put  in 
operation  by  the  government,  and  lauded  by  the 
people,  the  confidence  with  which  Congress  in 
creased  the  appropriations  to  extend  this  merit 
orious  work,  will  ever  remain  inscribed  upon  the 
public  records  an  enduring  monument  to  the 
energy  and  skill  of  Me  Arthur  and  Bartlett. 

In  April,  1846,  Commodore  Sloat  sent  the 
"  Portsmouth  "  from  Mazatlan  to  California  ;  on 
arriving  there,  Captain  Montgomery  supplied  the 
wants  of  Captain  Fremont,  who  had  been  hostil- 
ized  by  Castor,  the  Commandant-General  of  the 
Province  of  California.  We  quote  from  the  let* 
ter  of  Captain  Montgomery,  to  show  how  valua 
ble,  at  that  juncture,  were  the  military  and  civil 
services  of  Lieutenant  Bartlett : 

Montgomery  says : 

"  I  have  no  hesitation  whatever  in  bearing  my  testimony  to  your 
high  mental  and  physical  qualifications  and  efficiency  as  an  officer 
of  the  Navy,  and  an  accomplished  sea-officer. 

At  all  times  and  in  all  circumstances  I  found  you  ready  and  wil 
ling  for  the  various  duties  assigned  you,  on  shore  and  on  ship-board 
aikl  ever  prompt,  zealous,  and  capable  in  the  performance  of  them. 
I  always  regarded  you,  sir,  as  a  most  useful  officer,  not  only  in  the 
proper  line  of  professional  employment,  but  as  interpreter  and 

13* 


298  AN   AMERICAN   HERO 

translator  of  important  official  correspondence  during  the  revolu 
tionary  movements  in  California  and  the  war  with  Mexico  which 
followed ;  your  services  were  of  signal  importance  to  your  com 
mander,  and  (as  regarded  by  him)  to  the  public  interests  at  the 
time. 

When,  in  the  course  of  events,  after  the  occupancy  of  San  Fran 
cisco,  it  became  necessary  to  establish  the  magistracy  of  that  place, 
the  duties  of  alcalde  were  assigned  to  you,  and  discharged  with  a 
faithfulness  and  ability  which  claimed  for  you  the  commendation 
of  your  immediate  commander,  as  well  as  that  of  the  commander- 
in-chief;  and  the  people  of  the  district,  when  required  to  elect  their 
civil  officers,  manifested  their  high  appreciation  of  your  character 
and  services  in  the  magistracy,  in  according  to  you  an  overwhelm 
ing  vote  (over  several  candidates)  for  your  continuance  in  office." 

From  the  moment  of  Montgomery's  arrival  at 
Monterey,  on  the  22d  of  the  month  of  April, 
1846,  to  the  commencement  of  the  war  in  that 
quarter,  he  was  in  active  preparation  to  take 
instant  possession  of  San  Francisco,  and  the  ver 
satile  talents  of  Bartlett  were  employed  by  his 
commodore  to  their  fullest  extent. 

As  Military  Secretary  and  Translator,  Civil 
Magistrate,  and  Judge  of  First  Instance,  with  Ad 
miralty  Jurisdiction  for  the  waters  of  San  Fran 
cisco,  "  Collector  and  Superintendent  of  the 
Port,"  etc.,  Lieutenant  Bartlett  was  found  not 
only  fully  qualified  by  his  previous  business 
knowledge,  but  manifested  great  administrative 
ability,  by  the  obedience  of  all  classes  shown  to 
his  government. 


THE  VICTIM   OF  A  CONSPIRACY.  299 

As  Chief  Magistrate  of  the  Town  and  District 
of  San  Francisco,  he  exercised  all  the  powers  of 
a  local  "  Cabildo,"  or  "  Mexican  Ayuntamiento  ;" 
he  caused  the  re-survey  of  the  town,  regulated 
and  named  the  streets  and  squares  ;  located  mar 
kets  ;  sites  for  public  edifices  ;  and  granted  lots 
to  actual  settlers,  under  the  forms  of  the  Spanish 
laws  of  the  Indies  and  colonies,  which  have  ever 
continued  to  rule  over  Mexican  Territory. 

Bartlett  soon  saw  that  the  people  were  willing 
to  obey  their  new  rulers,  if  they  could  but  be 
protected  by  them.  And  being  well  read  in  Kent 
and  Wheaton,  he  knew  where  to  ascertain  the 
rights  of  the  conquerors,  and  by  reading  such 
Spanish  authorities,  and  consulting  such  tradi 
tional  lore  as  the  country  afforded,  he  was  able  to 
protect  the  rights  of  the  conquered. 

The  original  appointment  of  Bartlett,  was  con 
firmed  by  the  people  at  their  first  election  of  civil 
officers,  on  the  13th  of  September  following. 
And  when  Commodore  Stockton  saw  the  harbor 
filling  with  ships,  the  town  of  San  Francisco 
building  up,  he  appreciated  the  talent  and  tact  of 
Bartlett  so  highly,  that  he  confirmed  him  in  all 
his  functions,  as  Chief  Magistrate,  Judge,  and 
United  States  Collector ;  even  though  he  then 


300  AN    AMERICAN   HERO 

needed  officers  to  conduct  his  military  move 
ments. 

In  February  22d,  1847,  General  Kearney  ar 
rived  in  San  Francisco,  and  saw  with  gratification 
a  well  ordered  community  under  perfect  control, 
a  civil  court  of  "  Common  Pleas,"  and  admiralty, 
proceeding  with  all  the  formality  of  an  old  New 
England  county,  a  Court  of  Records,  and  Probate, 
a  custom-house,  and  safe  for  the  public  funds, 
and  a  well-guarded  prison  for  culprits.  He  could 
not  but  commend  such  order  in  the  public  ser 
vice,  especially  since  no  complaint  was  laid  before 
him,  asking  for  reversal  of  a  single  decision  or 
decree  of  the  Hon.  Judge  and  Collector,  and 
which  under  the  circumstances  of  the  government 
and  Mexican  customs  and  laws,  General  Kearney 
must  have  entertained,  had  they  been  presented. 
And  it  is  a  singular  fact,  that  at  no  period  subse 
quent  to  this  time,  has  there  ever  been  any 
reversal  of  a  verdict,  judgment  or  decree,  made 
by  Bartlett. 

After  his  election  by  the  people,  Judge  Bart 
lett  laid  aside  his  naval  uniform  for  the  time, 
wearing  only  the  staff  and  insignia  of  the  magis 
tracy.  And  it  was  under  his  authority  as  judge, 
that  the  first  regular  jury  was  empanelled,  for 


THE   VICTIM  OF   A  CONSPIRACY.  301 

the  trial  of  any  cause  in  California.  Amongst 
other  criminal  cases  tried,  there  were  two  sea 
men  for  piracy,  or  robbery  on  the  high  seas,  who 
preferring  the  judge  to  a  jury,  plead  guilty,  and 
laid  themselves  at  the  mercy  of  the  court.  There 
was,  too,  an  interesting  civil  suit,  which  had  for 
years  hung  upon  the  Mexican  docket,  viz. :  "  Reed- 
ley,  vs.  the  Hon.  Hudson's  Bay  Co.,"  and  no  Mexi 
can  Judge  had  dared,  because  of  the  power  of 
the  British  Government,  to  decide  it  against  the 
Company. 

The  Plaintiff  appeared  in  court,  a  jury  was 
summoned,  the  case  fully  heard,  and  a  verdict 
given  against  that  Company,  and  the  money  was 
paid  before  an  execution  could  issue  against 
them.  The  applause  was  great  in  finding  that 
an  American  had  manifested  proper  appreciation 
for  their  just  rights,  and  without  regard  for  the 
animosity  of  any  power,  had  accorded  in  the 
spirit  of  our  free  institutions,  the  fullest  justice  to 
whom  it  was  due. 


302  AN   AMERICAN    HERO 


SECTION   IV. 

We  can  now  discover  why  this  young  officer 
was  acknowledged  by  all  his  superiors  and  peers 
to  possess  "  high  mental  and  physical  qualifica 
tions  and  efficiency  as  an  accomplished  officer  of 
the  navy,  at  all  times  and  in  all  circumstances 
ready  and  willing,  on  shore  and  afloat,  and  ever 
prompt,  zealous  and  capable  in  the  performance 
of  the  various  duties  assigned  him.  Whose  ser 
vices  were  of  singular  importance  to  his  com 
mander,  and  to  the  public  interest." 
• 

In  this  connection,  we  shall  continue  to  exhibit 
the  civil  service  of  Lieutenant  Bartlett,  and  for 
the  reason  that  it  not  only  shows  eminent  ability 
as  an  officer  of  the  government,  but  because  it 
enabled  him  to  execute  the  plans  for  improve 
ments,  which  his  service  on  the  western  coast  had 
shown  him  to  be  necessary,  and  which  the  gov- 
ment  adopted  at  his  suggestion. 

In  the  publication  of  the  coast  survey,  we  find 
that  Lieutenant  Bartlett  was  the  first  officer  who 
called  the  attention  of  the  government  to  the  ab 
solute  and  immediate  necessity  for  lighting  the 
approaches  to  San  Francisco,  and  a  general  plan 


THE   VICTIM   OF   A  CONSPIRACY.  303 

for  the  western  coast.  The  subsequent  examina 
tions  for  exact  sites  for  these  works,  exhibit  the 
closeness  of  his  observations,  as  they  were  ulti 
mately  placed  on  the  points  designated  by  him  in 
his  original  communication.  It  was  natural, 
therefore,  that  the  commercial  interests  of  the 
western  coast .  should  look  to  him,  to  aid  their 
delegations  in  Congress  in  procuring  for  that 
coast,  such  illuminations  for  the  pathways  of 
commerce,  as  science  and  high  mechanical  skill 
could  produce.  And  to  prevent  being  supplied 
to  that  important  region  of  our  coast,  any  system 
which  scientific  investigation  had  condemned, 
but  which  had  been  so  universally  and  pertina 
ciously  adopted  on  the  Atlantic  coast,  by  the  late 
general  superintendent  (who,  for  forty  years  or 
more,  controlled  that  department),  and  who,  no 
doubt,  conscientiously  believed  that  no  improve 
ment  could  be  made  on  the  then  existing  system  ! 
And  yet  such  were  his  fears  that  it  might  be  over 
turned,  that  he  reported  officially  to  Congress,  that 
light-houses,  so  far  from  being  useful,  had  become 
public  nuisances  !  Hence  it  was,  that  Lieutenant 
Bartlett  determined  to  enlighten  the  hon.  gentle 
man  who  then  presided  over  the  Treasury,  on  the 
vast  importance  of  the  subject  to  our  commercial 


304  AN  AMERICAN  HERO 

interest  on  that  coast.  The  Secretary  could  not 
resist  their  adoption ;  he  recalled  the  contracts 
already  made  on  the  old  system,  and  reluctantly 
embraced  the  new. 

Herein  we  discover  the  reasons  why  the  Hon. 
Mr.  Corwin  should  have  selected  Lieutenant 
Bartlett  to  proceed  to  Paris  for  further  informa 
tion,  and  to  superintend  the  execution  for  the 
general  introduction  of  the  ,Fresnel  system 
throughout  the  United  States. 

What  was  the  result  ?  Why  plainly  this,  that 
Bartlett's  reports  from  Paris — the  only  position 
where  the  examination  could  be  made  in  detail- 
caused  the  Department  to  adopt  the  system  gene 
rally  on  the  Atlantic  as  well  as  Pacific  coast.  Con 
gress  having  already  passed  a  law  giving  the  depart 
ment  the  power  to  change  or  improve  the  lights, 
as  the  public  interests  should  require,  the  advo 
cates  of  the  old  torchlight  system  were  zealous 
in  their  opposition  to  the  improvements  in  France, 
and  the  Secretary  of  the  Treasury,  doubting  the 
extent  to  which  the  Fresnel  system  could  be  car 
ried,  and  being  responsible  for  what  he  should 
adopt,  sent  Lieutenant  Bartlett  as  an  enlightened 
confidential  agent,  to  Paris,  in  his  behalf,  and  in 
structed  him,  in  part,  as  follows  : 


THE  VICTIM   OF  A  CONSPIRACY.  305 

TRKASTJRT  DSPARTMBKT,  June  16, 1862. 

SIB:  Congress  having  authorized  the  construction  of  light-houses 
at  different  points  on  the  Pacific,  the  department  contemplates  fur 
nishing  them  with  the  improved  French  lens,  provided  the  needful 
appropriation  can  be  obtained  to  cover  the  increased  expense ;  but 
previous  to  giving  any  positive  orders  for  the  purchase  of  them,  it 
wishes  to  obtain  particular  and  detailed  information  upon  A!!  points 
connected  with  the  subject,  and  for  that  purpose  has  appointed  you 
to  proceed  to  Paris. 

You  will,  on  your  arrival,  make  yourself  acquainted  with  the 
different  manufacturers  of  these  lens,  and  ascertain  whether  there  is 
any  choice  between  them  as  to  the  quality  and  excellence  of  their 
work  and  their  respective  prices.  The  department  wishes  you  to 
procure  the  latter  in  detail. 

With  this  you  will  receive  a  copy  of  a  communication  from  the 
Light-house  Board  on  the  subject  of  the  French  lens.  The  depart 
ment  has  not  yet  approved  of  this  report ;  and  it  is  not,  therefore, 
furnished  to  you  as  a  guide,  but  merely  in  case  it  may  contain  some 
details  or  information  which  might  be  useful  to  you.  The  department 
will  make  no  determination  as  to  the  kinds  or  orders  of  the  lighting 
apparatus  and  fixtures  as  recommended  in  this  report,  until  after  it 
hears  from  you. 

It  has  been  suggested  that  the  sixth  order  lens  could  be  advan 
tageously  employed  in  various  small  lights  on  the  coasts  and  harbors 
of  the  United  States,  without  making  any  other  change  except  sub 
stituting  them  for  the  present  reflectors.  You  will  please  ascertain 
on  what  terms  this  order  of  lens  can  be  procured  with  a  suitable 
mechanical,  or  other  lamp,  and  without  other  fixtures  or  accessories 
of  any  kind ;  or  if  you  find,  on  inquiry,  any  of  the  latter  would  be 
absolutely  necessary,  in  order  to  make  the  suggested  change,  then 
to  include  the  cost  of  them  also ;  but  to  have  nothing  of  the  kind 
that  is  not  absolutely  necessary. 

The  department,  after  hearing  from  you  as  regards  these — the 
smaller  sized  lens — and  obtaining  further  information  in  connection 
with  the  subject  of  this  size,  may  probably  try  the  experiment  with 
six  or  eight  of  the  smaller  light-houses,  and  if  it  succeeds,  extend 
to  a  much  larger  number. 

The  department  would  also  wish  to  have  the  statement  of  cost 
for  any  different  kinds  of  materials  whicli  are,  or  can  be  used  in  the 
construction  of  these  apparatus,  such  as  bronze,  copper,  iron,  etc., 


306  AN   AMERICAN   HERO 

which  might  be  indiscriminately  used,  with  your  views  as  to  which 
would  be  most  advisable  under  all  the  circumstances. 

Your  report  will  also  include  the  kind  and  cost  of  all  the  need 
ful  items  necessary  for  the  use  of  the  light  keeper,  as  connected  with 
the  due  care  and  operation  of  the  light  after  it  has  been  completed 
and  put  into  use,  including  not  only  such  items  as  will  be  perma 
nently  required  for  the  above  purpose,  but  likewise,  those  which 
are  in  regular  consumption,  estimating  the  supply  of  the  latter  for 
a  period  of  one  year. 


THE   VICTIM   OF   A   CONSPIRACY.  307 


CHAPTER  II. 

WHILE  the  Light-house  Board,  by  action  of 
its  Chairman  and  Secretary,  Shubrick  and  Jen 
kins,  have  studiously  kept  Lieutenant  Bartlett's 
name  out  of  view  in  all  their  reports,  they  have 
made  free  use  of  his  labors  in  those  same  docu 
ments,  and  his  important  services  for  the  safety 
of  our  Navy  and  commerce  are  appropriated  by 
them  as  the  result  of  their  own  investigation. 
But  when  to  induce  the  Secretary  to  give  his  con 
fidence  to  the  newly  elected  Board  it  suited  their 
purpose  to  refer  to  the  action  of  Bartlett  in  Paris. 
They  write  thus  : 

TREASURY  DFPARTMENT,  LIGHT-HOUSE  BOARD,  I 

November  IT, 1852.  f 

SIR  :  Your  communication  of  Saturday  last,  with  the  accompany 
ing  report,  papers,  and  drawings,  from  Lieutenant  Bartlett,  U.  S.  N., 
special  agent  of  the  Treasury  Department  in  Paris,  to  procure  illu 
minating  apparatus  for  the  light-houses  on  the  western  coast,  have 
been  received,  and  in  reply  I  am  directed  by  the  Board  to  say — 

1st.  That  the  manner  in  which  the  duty  of  Lieutenant  Bartlett 
has  thus  far  been  discharged,  merits  their  fullest  approbation,  and 
that  his  report  is  full  of  information,  and  very  explicit. 

2d.  That   they  recommend   the   Treasury  Department  to   send 


SOS  AW   AMEfclCAN   fflBBO 

to  Lieutenant  Bartlett  the  snm  of  48,500  francs,  to  meet  the  con 
tracts  made  by  him,  as  requested  in  his  report  to  the  Department. 
These  contracts  are,  in  the  opinion  of  the  Board,  made  on  very 
favorable  terms. 

3d.  That  they  recommend  to  the  Treasury  Department  to  autho 
rize  Lieutenant  Bartlett  to  make  contracts  for  the  illuminating  ap 
paratus  for  the  remaining  lights  recommended  by  the  Board. 

The  Board  has  already  taken  steps  preliminary  to  ordering  the 
illuminating  apparatus  for  Sand  Key,  and  now  being  informed  by 
Lieutenant  Bartlett's  report  that  the  apparatus  is  finished,  will  com 
plete  the  action  contemplated. 

I  have  the  honor  to  be, 

Very  respectfully. 

Your  ob't  servant. 
(Signed,)  WM.  BfcANfoftfc  SirtffiBKjfc, 

Chairman  Light-Howe  £oard. 
The  Hon.  Secretary  oftht  Treatury. 

Again,  the  Secretary,  in  his  second  letter,  ad 
dressed  to  Lieutenant  Bartlett,  writes  : 

deferring  to  the  letter  of  instructions  from  the  department,  under 
date  of  16th  inst.,  I  have  now  to  state  that  the  amounts  which 
will  be  deducted  from  the  contracts  for  building  eight  of  the  light 
houses  on  the  coast  of  the  Pacific,  in  consequence  of  dispensing 
with  the  lanterns  and  reflectors,  specified  in  said  contracts,  will 
enable  the  department  to  give  a  positive  order  for  a  portion  of  the 
contemplated  supply  of  French  lens ;  you  are,  therefore,  authorized, 
after  your  arrival  in  Paris,  and  having  made  yourself  acquainted  on 
all  the  points  alluded  to  in  the  above  letter  of  instructions,  to  con 
tract  for  a  Fresnel  lens,  of  a  size  not  exceeding  the  third  order,  for 
the  light-house  on  Fort  Point,  and,  also,  for  the  one  on  Alcatross 
Island,  San  Francisco  Bay,  and  have  them  completed  and  shipped 
as  promptly  as  possible. 

And   then,   referring   to   the    economy  which 
should  govern  his  operations,  adds  : 


THE   VICTIM   OF  JL  CONSPIRACY.  309 

But  the  department,  in  this,  as  well  as  on  all  other  points  connected 
with  your  mission,  depends  upon  your  beat  judgment  and  discretion 
being  exercised,  in  purchasing  everything  on  the  most  favorable 
terms,  consistent  with  a  due  regard  to  having  proper  workman 
ship  and  materials. 

In  the  very  teeth  of  this  plenary  power  con 
ferred  on  Bartlett  by  the  Treasury  Department, 
Lieutenant  Misroon,  when  speaking  for  the  Navy 
Board,  before  the  Naval  Committee  of  the  Sen 
ate,  affirmed  "that  Bartlett  was  ordered  to  no 
other  duty  than  to  enter  into  contracts  for  eight 
illuminating  apparatus  !"  And  Jenkins,  secretary 
of  the  Light-house  Board,  who  acted  as  the 
jackal,  or  lackey  to  the  Navy  Board,  supports 
Misroon,  in  the  face  of  his  own  instructions  to 
Bartlett,  of  various  dates,  in  1852-3-4: 

OFFICE  LIUHT-HOUSH  BOARD, 
WASHINGTON  Crrv,  October  154ft,  1852. 

DUIR  SIB: — I  have  written  to-day  to  M.  Lepaute,  in  relation  to- 
the  apparatus  for  Sand  Key,  to  which  you  called  my  attention  in 
your  private  note  to  me  some  weeks  since. 

If  the  apparatus  can  be  had,  I  am  authorized  to  say  that  the 
Board  will  give  the  necessary  orders  to  have  it  forwarded  without 
delay,  and  prompt  payment  provided.  • 

I  wish  you  would  see  M.  Lepaute,  and  explain  to  him  fnlly  the 
difference  between  the  light-house,  as  at  present  organized,  and  the 
previous  mode  of  managing  the  lights  of  this  country.  We  may 
want  some  third,  fourth,  fifth,  and  sixth  orders  of  lenses,  and  I  wish 
you  would  ascertain,  from  both  Lepaute's  and  Letourneau's  estab 
lishments,  what  are  the  prospects  of  onr  getting  these  different 
orders,  and  in  what  numbers,  within  the  next  year,  and  if  there  is 
any  change  of  prices. 

Messrs.  Sautter  &  Co.  have  been  informed,  as  well  as  M.  Lepaute, 


310  AN   AMERICAN  HERO 

that  you  will  have  the  direction,  examination,  and  test  of  all  these 
articles  so  long  as  you  remain  in  Paris,  after  which  steps  will  be 
taken  to  obtain  a  proper  person  to  attend  to  setting  up  and  examin 
ing  such  as  may  be  ordered.  If  these  orders  can  be  filled  at  an 
early  day,  another  will  follow  immediately. 

The  implements,  tools,  etc.,  and  a  year's  supply  of  the  articles 
enumerated  in  the  list  No.  1,  are  desired  to  accompany  the  Sand 
Key  apparatus  when  it  is  shipped. 

The  articles  enumerated  in  lists  No.  1  and  2,  as  well  as  the  ap 
paratus  ordered,  must  be  of  the  quality,  quantities,  and  prices  of  the 
French  administration,  without  they  can-  be  had  for  less. 

If  the  little  lighting  lamps,  called  "  Lucernes,"  do  not  cost  more 
than  a  trifle  each,  you  may  order  a  number  of  them. 

I  wish  you  would  forward  us  something  of  a  practicable  kind, 
relating  to  Colza  oil.  Any  printed  or  manuscript  notes  on  the  sub 
ject,  will  be  most  thankfully  received,  and  the  expense  of  purchase 
refunded. 

Your  letter  of  the  12th,  13th,  and  14th  ultimo.,  to  this  Board, 
with  inclosures,  have  been  received,  and  your  letter  of  the  14th  ult., 
to  the  Secretary  of  the  Treasury,  has  been  referred  to  this  office. 

The  Sand  Key  apparatus  will,  probably,  be  applied  to  the  Cape 
Hatteras  tower,  to  save  time;  but  the  order  for  the  duplicate,  with 
a  lantern,  can  be  changed,  as  you  suggest,  to  a  duplicate  of  the  one 
for  the  Farrallones  and  Cordouan.  The  lantern  should  accompany 
it ;  but  it  is  desired  that  no  unnecessary  expense  should  be  incurred 
in  constructing  the  lanterns,  particularly  now,  that  iron  and  copper 
are  both  so  high.  The  desire  of  the  Board  is  utility,  with  as  little 
ornament,  not  necessary  to  the  efficiency  of  the  objects,  as  possible. 
The  best  lights,  at  the  smallest  expense,  consistent  with  utility  and 
economy. 

And,  if  these  are  not  sufficient,  we  are  pro 
vided  with  the  testimony  of  Professor  Bache,  to 
gether  with  Professor  Henry,  the  distinguished 
scientific  members  of  the  Board,  who  have  given 
prestige,  in  the  public  judgment,  to  that  institu 
tion,  and  whom  we  know  unite  in  their  appre- 


THE   VICTIM   OF   A  CONSPIRACY.  311 

elation  of  the  services  of  Lieutenant  Bartlett,  as 
conveyed  in  the  following  note  : 

WASHINGTON,  December  5th,  1858. 

MY  DEAR  SIK: — 

*********** 

I  Lave  not  seen  Lieutenant  Jenkins,  or  the  Light-house  Board, 
since  my  return  to  Washington,  but  expect  to  do  so  soon.  When 
last  here,  your  doings  had  given  great  satisfaction.  For  myself,  I 
do  not  believe  we  could  have  succeeded,  in  any  other  way,  so  well, 
in  setting  our  machine  in  motion,  as  in  the  way  we  took  by  sug 
gesting  to  the  Secretary  of  the  Treasury  to  send  you  abroad. 

Yours,  truly, 
Signed,  A.  D.  BAOHB. 

LJBCT.  W.  A.  BARTLKTT,  U.  8.  2f.,  Parit. 


SECTION    I. 

Americans,  note  the  fact  that,  when  Bart 
lett  was  sent  to  Paris,  this  Light-house  Board 
had  not  even  been  created  by  law  ;  and,  when 
it  was,  the  Secretary  of  the  Treasury,  under 
whose  instructions  Bartlett  was  then  acting, 
became,  ex  officio,  the  President  of  that  Board ! 
What,  then,  do  we  see  ?  That,  every  subsequent 
act  of  the  especial  agency  at  Paris  is  commu 
nicated  to  that  Board,  for  its  approval,  by  the 
Secretary  of  the  Treasury  ;  and  through  which 
Board  the  Secretary  only  communicated  with  tho 
agent  ever  afterwards. 

Can   any  intelligent  reader   fail   thus   to  see 


312  AN    AMERICAN    HERO 

that  Bartlett  was  held  responsible  for  the  faithful 
execution  of  every  suggestion  of  that  Board,  and 
the  same  discretionary  power  that  was  given 
when  he  derived  the  appointment  was  maintained 
to  the  last  ?  His  suggestions  were  adopted,  his 
plans  and  contracts  were  approved ;  and  the 
work,  when  finished,  from  time  to  time,  was 
pronounced  by  the  French  engineers  as  of  the 
finest  possible  execution.  The  expenditures  for 
this  delicate,  yet  substantial  illuminating  power, 
amounting  to  nearly  three  hundred  thousand 
dollars,  were  paid  only  on  his  certificates  of  the 
exactness  of  the  work,  and  in  precise  accordance 
with  the  wishes  of  the  government.  These  bills 
being,  in  every  instance,  less  than  the  originally 
approved  estimate. 

The  importance  of  all  this  will  be  best  shown 
by  the  Board's  own  reports  to  Congress,  January 
15th,  1853.  The  Senate  session  of  XXXIId  Con 
gress,  Vol.  V.  The  Board  having  convened  at  the 
Treasury  Department,  on  the  9th  of  October  last, 
were  duly  organized  by  their  President,  the  Hon. 
Secretary  of  the  Treasury. 

Since  that  date  the  Board  has  executed,  under  the  direction  of 
the  Treasury  Department,  all  the  administrative  duties  relating  to 
the  management  of  the  light-house  establishment. 

It  relies  upon  the  officers  to  direct  their  first  attention  to  the 


THE   yiCTIM   OF    A   CONSPIRACY.  313 

fulfillment  of  the  wants  of  the  navigator,  for  whose  benefit  the 
establishment  exists. 

In  an  economical  point  of  view,  it  is  of  equally  great  importance. 
This  subject  has  occupied  the  attention  of  those  charged  with  the 
management  of  European  lights  for  many  years.* 

*  Three  years  previous  to  Lieutenant  Bartlett's  mission  to  Europe, 
a  conditional  or  indirect  order  had  been  given  to  Mr.  Henry  Lepaute 
of  Paris  to  construct  a  proper  lens  light  for  Sand  Key,  Florida,  and 
another  for  Carysfort  Reef,  on  that  coast,  by  the  late  J.  W.  P. 
Lewis,  Marine  and  Light-house  Engineer,  who  had  obtained  the 
passage  of  a  special  act  of  Congress  for  those  lights.  The  opposi 
tion  of  the  then  existing  Light-house  Department  to  this  great 
improvement  was  so  intense,  that  it  succeeded  in  causing  the  Carys 
fort  Reef  lens  to  be  sold  at  auction,  at  the  New  York  Custom 
House,  for  $600,  although  the  Government  had  indirectly  con 
tracted  to  pay  $9,000  for  it;  and  as  by  this  act  Mr.  Lepaute  had 
lost  all  hope  of  being  repaid  for  that  beautiful  work  (and  did  finally, 
when  in  1853  the  Government  received  possession  of  it,  actually 
lose  over  $3,000  dollars  in  expenses),  he  of  course  suspended  work 
on  the  order  of  Sand  Key.  But  Lieut.  Bartlett,  on  reaching  Paris, 
having  tested  the  work  as  it  stood  in  the  atelier,  and  pledged  him 
self  personally  to  Mr.  Lepaute  to  procure  its  sale  to  the  Government 
if  he  would  but  finish  it,  Mr.  Lepaute  did  so  on  Lieut.  Bartlett's 
individual  credit. 

As  the  new  Light-house  Board  had  got  to  work  in  November, 
Mr.  Bartlett's  report  upon  it  to  the  Secretary  of  the  Treasury,  and 
asking  its  purchase,  was  sent  to  them,  and  enabled  them  to  put  it 
up  at  once  in  Sand  Key,  the  work  of  the  Chairman  and  Secretary  of 
the  Light-house  Board. 

There  is  one  other  circumstance  in  connection  with  this  light 
which  must  be  told,  as  it  shows  that  from  the  very  beginning  Mr. 
Thornton  A.  Jenkins,  who,  although  a  Lieutenant  in  the  Navy  and 
Secretary  of  the  old  and  new  Light-house  Board,  was  not  only 
determined  that  Lieut.  Bartlett  should  not  have  any  public  credit 
for  his  work,  but  was  also  determined  to  cheat  him  by  a  trick  out 
of  his  rights  to  be  paid  his  "reasonable"  expenses  while  serving  in 
Europe. 

Lieut.  Bartlett  had  filed  a  bond  in  the  Treasury  for  $15,000, 

14 


314  AN   AMERICAN   HERO 

Estimates  to  be  of  any  value  should  be  based  upon  a  faitlifnl 
examination  of  the  different  works  by  competent  and  disinterested 
persons. 

The  lights  authorized  to  ~be  built  on  the  Pacific  coast  were  trans 
ferred  to  the  management  of  the  Board  on  the  22d  December,  1852. 

The  officer  charged  with  the  purchase  of  the  remainder  of  the 
lights  contracted  for  on  the  western  coast,  having  received  his 
instructions  from  the  Secretary  of  the  Treasury  direct,  it  remains 
for  the  Board  to  see  that  they  are  faithfully  carried  out,  and  that 
the  lights  be  supplied  with  them  without  unnecessary  delay. 

signed  by  Win.  H.  Aspinwall  and  Henry  Grinnell,  and  Drake  Mills, 
as  security  for  his  faithful  disbursement  of  the  public  money.  Jen 
kins  has  Bartlett's  approval  of  Mr.  Lepaute's  prices  for  the  Sand 
Key  apparatus,  approved  by  the  Board;  then  obtains  from  the 
Treasury  the  exact  sum  of  money  requisite  to  pay  it,  having  it 
charged  to  Lieutenant  Bartlett's  account,  as  a  disbursing  officer  of 
the  Government,  and  remits  it  to  him,  made  payable  to  Mr.  Le 
paute's  order,  and  asks  Bartlett  to  send  back  the  vouchers  to  the 
Department ;  Bartlett,  never  dreaming,  from  the  tenor  of  the  letter, 
that  he  was  charged  with  the  money,  sent  back  the  vouchers,  4eav- 
ing  the  name  of  the  paying  officer  in  blank  ;  this  voucher  is  now  in 
the  Treasury  Department,  with  the  blank  filled  up  in  Jenkins'  hand 
writing,  as  if  paid  by  the  "  Secretary  of  the  Treasury."  Why,  but 
to  prepare  himself  to  contest  Bartlett's  right  to  have  his  expenses 
refunded,  to  an  amount  equal  to  three  per  cent,  on  the  expenditures, 
provided  his  expenses  should  amount  to  that  sum  ? 

That  Lieutenant  Bartlett  was  the  agent,  responsible  to  the  Treas 
ury  Department  for  the  money  expended  for  refitting  Hatteras 
light  with  its  new  illuminator,  is  incontrovertible,  vide  the  follow 
ing  official  letter : 

TMUSUBT  DEFARTMK.-T, 

OFFICI  or  COMMISSIOXBR  or  CUSTOMS,  January  IZtfi,  1S54. 

SIB: — Your  account  for  fitting  Cape  Hatteras  light  with  first 
order  of  illuminating  apparatus,  has  been  adjusted  and  closed  on 
the  books  of  the  Treasury. 

Respectfully  yours, 
Signed,  H.  J.  ANDERSON, 

C&mmiwioncr  of  Custom*. 
LIFTT.  W.  A.  BABTL«TT, 

Agent  for  fitting  Cape  Hatteras  light,  etc. 


THE   VICTIM   OF   A  CONSPIRACY.  315 

The  Board,  having  the  benefit  of  Bartlett's 
reports  on  his  investigations  abroad,  showing  the 
high  point  of  efficiency  and  economy  to  which 
the  system  had  arrived,  stated  to  Congress,  "  that 
they  would  proceed  with  the  gradual  introduction 
of  a  better  description  of  illuminating  apparatus, 
the  superiority  of  which  is  no  longer  to  be  ques 
tioned,  by  adopting  a  system  of  instruction 
founded  upon  scientific  attainments  and  practical 
knowledge." 

When  Lieut.  Bartlett  left  Paris,  he  had  super 
intended,  inspected,  approved,  and  shipped  to  the 
United  States,  to  the  order  of  the  Light-house 
Board,  sixty-three  Fresnel  luminators,  several  of 
which,  especially  of  the  great  light  off  San  Fran 
cisco,  exceeded  in  power  any  light  ever  previously 
constructed  in  any  part  of  the  world,  having  the 
power  of  six  thousand  six  hundred  Argand 
burners  concentrated  in  a  single  beam  !  It  now 
flashes  upon  the  mariner  every  consecutive  mi 
nute  from  sunset  to  sunrise  ! 

A  duplicate  of  the  same  power  he  also  con 
structed  for  the  Atlantic  coast.  Hon.  John  Y. 
Mason,  Ex-Secretary  of  the  Navy,  and  Minister 
to  France,  who,  in  company  with  other  mem 
bers  of  the  diplomatic  corps,  and  distinguished 


316  AN    AMERICAN   HERO 

savaris  of  Europe,  including  Fresnel,  surviving 
brother  of  the  inventor,  Messrs.  Reynaud  and 
Degrand,  engineers  of  the  French  Light-house 
Department,  often  attended  the  exhibitions  of 
Lieutenant  Bartlett,  attesting  the  power  of  these 
lights  ;  and  the  Hon.  Mr.  Mason  thus  addressed 
the  Secretary  of  the  Treasury  : 

UHITED  STATES  LEGATION,    • 

PARIS,  September  Zd,  1854. 

DEAR  SIR: — Lieutenant  Bartlett,  of  the  United  States  Navy,  is 
about  leaving  Paris,  on  his  return  to  the  United  States.  It  gives 
me  great  pleasure  to  bear  my  testimony  to  the  care  and  vigilance 
with  which  this  gentleman  has  performed  his  responsible  duties, 
since  I  have  been  here,  and  to  express  my  admiration  of  the  splen 
did  lights  which  have  been  manufactured  under  his  supervision  for 
the  coasts  of  the  United  States. 

I  do  not  believe  that  there  are,  in  the  world,  superior  mechanical 
structures  for  the  safety  of  commerce  than  those  which  have  been 
prepared  here,  under  the  superintendence  of  Mr.  Bartlett.  The 
chief  credit  is,  unquestionably,  due  to  the  faithful  and  skillful  man 
ufacturers,  but  no  small  share  is,  in  my  judgment,  due  to  Mr.  Bart 
lett,  who  has  displayed  zeal,  industry,  and  intelligence,  in  the  per 
formance  of  his  duties.  I  hope  that  you  will  not  consider  me  obtru 
sive  in  thus  expressing  my  admiration  of  the  lens  lights,  prepared 
here  for  the  exposed  and  dangerous  coasts  of  my  country. 
I  have  the  honor  to  be,  most  respectfully, 

J.  Y.  MASON. 

Box.  JAMES  GCTHBIE, 

Secretary  of  the  Treasury,  Washington. 

Having  disposed  of  this  assertion,  that  the 
duties  of  Lieut.  Bartlett  were  limited,  we  now 
advert  to  another  statement  of  Misroon,  speaking 
for  the  Naval  Board,  that  he  (Bartlett)  claimed 


THE   VICTIM   OF   A   CONSPIRACY.  317 

expenses  for  constructing  sixty-three  light-house 
illuminators  ;  but  he  was  ordered  to  attend  to  no 
other  duty  than  to  enter  into  contracts  for  eight 
illuminating  apparatus.  This  is  absolutely  and 
most  unqualifiedly  untrue. 

And  this  is  met  by  the  official  letter  of  the  Au 
ditor  of  the  Treasury,  to  which  we  call  the  atten 
tion  of  the  reader. 

WASHINGTON,  April  21«<,  1866. 

SIR  : — I  am  in  possession  of  yonr  letter  of  the  18th  inst.,  request 
ing  me  to  furnish  you  copies  of  all  the  reports  made  by  me  in  the 
settlement  of  your  accounts  as  the  special  agent  of  the  Treasury 
Department,  for  the  purchase  of  light-house  apparatus,  etc.,  during 
the  years  1852,  '53,  54,  and  '55. 

The  reports  made  by  me  in  the  settlement  of  your  accounts,  are 
on  file  in  the  office  of  the  Register  of  the  Treasury,  which  is  the 
appropriate  office  to  obtain  copies. 

You  also  ask,  if  I  will  state  whether  there  is  anything  in  the  ac 
counts  rendered  by  you,  or  in  the  correspondence  relating  thereto, 
calculated  to  impugn  your  personal  or  official  honor ;  and  whether 
your  accounts  were  not  rendered  in  a  full  and  business-like  man 
ner. 

In  the  settlement  of  your  accounts,  there  was  not  anything  that, 
in  the  slightest  degree,  tended  to  impugn  your  personal  or  official 
honor. 

Your  accounts  were  rendered  in  a  full  and  business-like  manner. 
Respectfully,  your  obedient  servant, 
T.  L.  SMITH 

WASHINGTON  A.  BAKTLKTT,  Esq. 


318  AN    AMERICAN   HERO 


SECTION   II. 

And  we  ask  now,  who  are  the  public  bound  to 
trust,  the  sworn  auditor  of  the  government, 
whose  business  it  is  to  investigate  and  pass  upon 
the  accounts  of  all  its  officers,  and  which  in  this, 
as  in  all  other  cases,  were  again  inspected  by  the 
Comptroller  of  the  Treasury,  or  that  Jacobin 
slander  of  a  secret  Inquisition,  whose  purpose 
it  was  to  create  a  spot  to  blast  the  victim  they  had 
marked  out  for  their  destruction. 

Remember,  Americans,  that  this  same  cabal  did 
ten  years  ago  signally  fail  in  a  similar  attempt 
to  injure  the  fair  fame  of  the  same  gallant  officer. 
Why  was  he  the  subject  then,  of  their  low,  petty, 
ill-natured,  unmerited  slander,  but  because  of  the 
rising  character  of  the  man,  his  genius,  his  enter 
prise  and  promise,  which  at  that  day  on  the 
"  Portsmouth,"  excited  the  envy  common  to  vul 
gar  minds. 

It  is  sufficient  for  us  to  say,  that  after  the  indis 
putable  testimony  of  the  sworn  Auditor  of  the 
Treasury,  whose  language  we  repeat,  "  that  in  the 
settlement  of  your  (Bartlett's)  accounts,  there  was 
not  anything  that,  in  the  slightest  degree,  tended  to 


THE   VICTIM   OP  A  CONSPIRACY.  819 

impugn  your  (his)  personal  or  official  honor,"  that 
we  shall  not  enlarge  upon  this  subject,  except  to 
say,  that  Lieutenant  Bartlett  was  sent  abroad  by 
his  government,  with  powers  and  duties  for  his 
employment,  and  a  discretion  in  their  exercise, 
with  which  it  would  have  honored  the  oldest  in 
the  public  service  of  the  country  to  have  been 
charged.  That  he  performed  them  with  signal 
ability,  to  the  entile  satisfaction  of  two  adminis 
trations  of  different  political  sentiments,  we  know. 
That  he  was  sent  upon  a  mission  which  was  to 
enlarge  by  his  capacity  and  industry  ;  that  he 
was  found  equal  to  the  task.  Upon  his  labor 
and  researches  great  public  improvement,  which 
gives  protection  to  the  navy  and  to  commerce 
along  the  vast  coast  of  the  United  States,  has 
resulted.  Two  little  lights  in  the  Bay  of  San 
Francisco  had  not  long  shown  this  improved 
illuminating  power,  before  Lieutenant  Bartlett 
had  caused  sixty-three  to  be  constructed,  and 
shipped  to  the  United  States.  These  have  now 
expanded  until  upwards  of  three  hundred  illu 
mine  and  bless  the  pathway  of  the  mariner ! 

It  was  not  supposed  that  the  original  orders 
would  have  extended  to  such  a  vast  work,  and 
over  so  long  a  period  of  time.  Nor  could  it  have 


320  AN   AMERICAN    HERO 

been  supposed  then,  how  much  expenditure  it 
would  involve.  He  was  to  be  paid  his  "  reason 
able  personal  expenses,"  provided  those  expenses 
should  not  exceed  three  per  cent,  upon  the 
amounts  expended  on  that  business.  This  would 
have  admitted  for  personal  expenses,  a  sum  of 
nearly  four  thousand  dollars.  He  faithfully  exe 
cuted  his  work,  and  is  commended  throughout  for 
all  his  proceedings.  And  presents  an  account  for 
his  expenses,  in  accordance  with  his  instructions. 
These  expenses  covering  nearly  twenty- seven 
months.  The  travel  from  Washington  to  Paris, 
vi&  England,  and  general  expenses  abroad, 
amounted  in  the  aggregate,  to  the  sum  of  four 
thousand  and  eleven  dollars.  Of  this  amount, 
the  auditor  passed  to  his  credit,  the  sum  Of  three 
thousand  seven  hundred  and  fifty  two  dollars,  and 
eighteen  cents.  And  here  we  remark,  that  every 
public  minister,  indeed,  almost  every  agent  of  the 
government,  who  ever  presented  an  account,  has 
had  some  items  suspended  or  rejected.  But,  who 
but  a  "Council  of  Ten,"  or  an  "Inquisition  of 
Fifteen,"  would  dare,  for  this  reason,  to  call  their 
high  integrity  in  question  ? 

Lieutenant  Bartlett's  account  was  settled  at  the 
treasury,  with  a  balance  in  his  favor  ;  although 


THE   VICTIM   OF   A  CONSPIRACY.  321 

the  Hon.  Secretary  of  the  Treasury  exercised  the 
power  of  construing  his  predecessors'  instructions, 
with  a  narrowness  of  view  illy  according  with 
the  magnitude  of  the  powers  conferred  by  them. 
And  while  he  limited  Lieutenant  Bartlett's  ex 
penses  to  an  amount  not  exceeding  three  per 
cent,  on  the  amount  which  that  officer  had  him 
self  disbursed  abroad,  instead  of  allowing  his 
reasonable  personal  expenses  not  to  exceed  three 
per  cent,  on  the  amount  expended  in  the  busi 
ness  !  and  which  the  department  knew,  by  its 
own  records,  to  be  near  three  hundred  thousand 
dollars. 

Bartlett  made  no  claim  as  of  right ;  he  rested 
upon  a  liberal  interpretation  of  his  instructions. 
He  knew  that  he  had  faithfully  performed  his 
duty  ;  he  knew  that  a  sum  larger  than  three  per 
cent,  had  been  saved  the  government  on  every  con 
tract  ;  he  knew  that  a  less  sum  of  money  than 
the  contract  called  for  had  paid  it ;  for,  with 
these  savings,  he  had  defrayed  these  very  per 
sonal  expenses,  without  calling  on  the  Depart 
ment  to  do  so. 

One  hundred  and  ten  dollars  and  sixty-two 
cents  was  the  full  amount  of  money  required  to 
be  taken  from  the  treasury,  to  pay  Lieutenant 

H* 


322  AN   AMERICAN   HERO 

Bartlett's  personal  expenses !  The  balance  had 
been  paid,  by  his  savings  on  the  amounts  placed 
in  his  hands,  to  cancel  contracts.  And,  had  no 
part  of  the  whole  amount,  which  was  placed  to 
his  credit  by  the  auditor,  been  arbitrarily  with 
held  by  the  Secretary  of  the  Treasury,  there 
would  still  have  been  but  one  thousand  and  thir 
ty-nine  dollars  drawn  from  the  treasury,  on  ac 
count  of  his  expenses ! 

The  Secretary  allowed  but  three  per  cent,  on 
ninety  thousand  four  hundred  and  thirteen  dollars, 
and  ninety  cents,  while  the  books  of  the  Register 
of  the  Treasury  show  that  Lieutenant  Bartlett 
actually  disbursed  and  accounted  for  one  hundred 
and  two  thousand  three  hundred  and  ninety-four 
dollars,  and  eight  cents  ;  and  while  he  claimed 
no  commissions,  he  had  a  right,  in  the  common 
sense  view  of  the  matter,  as  well  as  in  the  opinion 
of  eminent  jurists,  to  claim  his  "reasonable  ex 
penses."  He  did  this  and  nothing  more.  It  was 
the  Board,  and  not  Bartlett,  who  suggested,  in 
their  report  to  the  Secretary,  the  propriety  of 
paying  commissions,  on  the  amounts  disbursed 
by  Bartlett,  as  "a  partial  reimbursement,"  and 
which  drew  forth  from  the  Secretary  the  follow 
ing  letter : 


THE   VICTIM   OF   A  CONSPIRACY.  323 

TREASURY  DEPARTMENT,  January  3d,  1856. 

SIB  : — I  have  read  the  inclosed  communication  from  Mr.  Bartlett, 
upon  the  subject  of  his  claim  for  expenses,  to  and  from  Paris,  and 
whilst  there.  |* 

Mr.  Bartlett,  being  an  officer  of  the  government,  and  appointed 
to  go  to  Paris,  was  promised,  as  his  letter  of  appointment  shows,  his 
expenses  in  going  and  returning,  and  whilst  there,  not  to  exceed  the 
sum  of  three  per  cent,  on  the  amount  disbursed,  as  expressed  in  the 
letter  of  appointment.  The  account,  being  stated  on  the  principle 
of  allowing  three  per  cent,  on  the  amount  disbursed,  is  not  properly 
stated.  It  should  be  stated  by  allowing  the  expense,  in  strict  com 
pliance  with  the  letter  of  appointment,  not  to  exceed  three  per  cent. 
This  will  require  a  re-statement  of  the  account,  and,  when  his 
vouchers  are  not  sufficient,  yon  will  apprise  him,  and  allow  him 
time  to  make  them  right. 

I  am,  very  respectfully, 

JAMES  GTTTHBIE, 

Secretary  of  the  Treasury. 

H.  J.  ANDERSON,  Esq.,  Commissioner  of  Customs. 

Here,  we  find  that  astute  and  mighty  official 
expresses  his  opinion  that  Bartlett  really  did 
have  a  letter  of  appointment ! 


SECTION  m. 

But  the  Secretary  was  not  ignorant  of  what 
duties  Bartlett  had  performed,  as  we  find  this 
letter  had  previously  enlightened  him. 

I  (Mr.  Bartlett)  requested  the  Secretary  "to  have  in  view  the 
fact  that  I  superintended,  inspected,  and  shipped,  to  the  United 
States,  for  the  Light-house  Board  (which  is  not  less  a  part  of  the 
Treasury  Department),  fifty-five  illuminators  for  the  Atlantic  coast 
(including  Hatteras,  etc.),  and  costing  over  eight  hundred  thousand 


324  AN    AMERICAN    HERO 

francs,  for  which  no  expenses  of  agency  or  superintendency  hate  been 
incurred,  in  any  quarter,  and  CEBTAINLY  NOT  CLAIMED  BY  ME."  * 

r 

He  understood,  perfectly  well,  that  sixty-three 
of  these  Fresnel  lenses  had,  under  the  supervision, 
of  Bartlett,  been  constructed  from  1st  September, 
1852,  to  1st  September,  1854  ;  a  greater  num 
ber  than  any  other  country  has  ever  constructed 
in  ten  years  ! 

*  At  the  time  Lieutenant  Bartlett  was  serving  abroad,  the  State 
Department  had  occasion  to  send  a  sealed  dispatch  to  Madrid,  via 
Paris.  Ex-Governor  Winslow,  of  North  Carolina,  now  a  member 
of  Congress,  was  selected  for  this  special  mission ;  he  was  absent 
from  the  United  States  just  sixty-nirte  days!  and  his  expense  ac 
count  was  audited,  after  the  regulation  of  some  items,  and  paid  by 
the  Department,  as  follows  : 

For  expenses, $617  00 

For  pay,  sixty-nine  days,  at  $6  00      .       .       *,      , .  k      .       .       $414  00 

Total        .       .        .       .....        .      $1031  00 

Or,  fourteen  dollars  ninety-four  and  one-fifth  cents  per  day. 

Lieutenant  Bartlett  was  on  foreign  service  of  real  responsibility, 
from  June  16th,  1852,  to  September  18th,  1854,  a  period  of  eight 
hundred  and  twenty-one  days,  at  the  following  cost  to  the  govern 
ment  : 

For  his  pay,  as  a  Lieutenant  in  the  Navy,  being  set  down  in  the 
Navy  Register,  on  "special  service  in  Europe," 

For  two  years  and  three  months        ......          8875  00 

For  "  partial  reimbursement  of  bis  expenses,"        .        .        .         2712  42 

Total       .        .        .       .       .    "•.  ,.  V-'1,         608742 

$6087  42  -f-  821  days  =  $7  41  per  day,  or,  less  than  one  half 
the  daily  expenses  of  the  Hon.  Ex- Governor  for  carrying  a  dis 
patch  !  !  ! 

Had  the  whole  amount  of  Lieutenant  Bartlett's  expenses  been  paid, 
it  would  have  amounted  to  nine  dollars  and  ten  cents  per  day,  for 
pay  and  expenses  ! 


THE   VICTIM   OF   A   CONSPIRACY.  325 

Having  shown  something  of  the  military  and 
civil  character  of  Lieutenant  Bartlett  in  the  ser 
vice  of  the  country,  we  find  peculiar  pleasure  in 
directing  Americans  to  his  claims  as  a  philanthro 
pist.  Here,  as  in  other  relations,  he  furnishes  the 
most  undissembled  evidences  of  a  genuine  feeling 
for  his  fellow  man.  '-:'•-•  "f 

In  the  Winter  of  1846  and  '47,  it  is  known 
Lieutenant  B.  was  chief  magistrate  of  San  Fran 
cisco,  where,  in  aiding  and  assisting  the  settler, 
and  frequently  in  protecting  the  houseless,  he  was 
not  less  eminently  useful  to  that  young  commu 
nity,  than  in  the  preservation  of  law  and  order. 
During  his  magistracy,  breadstuffs  became  so  en 
hanced  in  price,  by  the  action  of  speculators,  as  to 
threaten  immediate  famine  among  the  suffering 
poor.  Bartlett,  foreseeing  the  result  upon  that 
class,  became  himself  immediately  responsible  to  a 
large  amount  for  flour,  binding  the  importer  to 


At  this  very  time,  the  Secretary  of  the  Treasury  was  allowing  to 
officers  of  the  army,  who  were  superintending  public  works,  such 
as  the  extension  of  the  Treasury  Building,  and  the  Custom  House, 
and  Light-house  Inspector,  at  Portland,  or  any  other  superinteri- 
dency  in  the  civil  service  of  the  Treasury,  a  sum  equal  (including 
his  army  pay),  to  eight  dollars  per  day.  Would  an  addition  of  one 
dollar  and  ten  cents  per  day,  for  such  foreign  service  as  Lieutenant 
Bartlett  rendered,  with  the  remarkable  economy  and  saving  he  pro 
duced,  have  been  an  extravagant  sum  ? 


326  AN   AMERICAN   HERO 

deliver  it  in  single  barrels  only,  to  all  comers  at  a 
fixed  low  price,  until  all  families  should  be  sup 
plied.  And  thus  brought  upon  him  the  grateful 
appreciation  of  that  large  and  helpless  class  of 
emigrants. 

On  another  occasion,  Bartlett,  while  chief  mag 
istrate,  received  a  letter  from  the  venerable  Judge 
of  Sacramento,  giving  intelligence  that  some 
eighty-five  men  and  women  were  then  perishing 
in  the  snows  of  the  Sierra  Nevada,  sixteen  having 
escaped  after  many  weeks'  detention.  Bartlett 
called  the  people  together,  and  in  the  most  affect 
ing  address  to  their  humanity,  besought  their  aid 
for  these  sufferers,  largely  leading  the  subscrip 
tion.  The  appeal  was  successful,  and  with  pro 
visions,  blankets,  and  clothing,  chief  magistrate 
Bartlett  selected  and  dispatched  this  relief  through 
Midshipman  Woodworth,  son  of  the  poet,  late  a 
Senator  of  California ;  and  by  this  timely  inter 
position  of  Bartlett,  these  people  were  saved. 

When  commander  of  the  "Ewing,"  in  the  Pacific, 
Bartlett  encountered  a  British  ship  from  Panama, 
bound  to  California.  As  its  commander  responded 
"all  well,"  Bartlett  ordered  his  vessel  "filled 
away,"  when  a  shout  went  up  from  two  hundred 
suffering  souls  on  board,  "water,  water,  water!" 


THE   VICTIM   OF   A  CONSPIRACY.  327 

These  people  were  on  short  allowances  of  half 
pint  per  man,  and  the  barbarous  commander  did 
not  wish  it  known  to  a  United  States  vessel  which 
had  outsailed  and  passed  him  at  sea. 

Bartlett  instantly  ordered  the  unfeeling  com 
mander  to  "  back  his  top-sails,"  and  wait  until  he 
placed  provisions  and  water  on  board,  sufficient 
to  supply  the  pressing  wants  of  these  people, 
which  was  speedily  done.  The  whole  country 
will  remember  the  appeals  of  Lieutenant  Bartlett 
through  the  "Washington  and  New  York  papers, 
in  behalf  of  the  sufferers  of  the  Cape  de  Verde 
Islands  ;  as  well  as  his  address  before  the  Corn 
Exchange  in  that  city,  in  which,  in  addition  to  his 
own  large  contribution  to  this  charity,  Bartlett 
tendered  his  own  personal  services  to  take  the  pro 
visions  himself  to  that  unfortunate  people  free  of 
all  charge.  And  he  did  not  go  simply  because 
passing  vessels  were  found  through  which  this  as 
sistance  was  forwarded,  thus  saving  the  necessity 
of  fitting  out  a  ship  for  the  especial  purpose. 
Thus  did  Bartlett  perform  his  promise  to  the 
people  when  he  left  the  "  Jamestown  !"  And 
although  called  suddenly  home,  broken  in  the 
service  by  conspirators  against  his  fame,  and  de 
prived  of  his  pay,  he  stopped  at  the  Canaries,  sent 


328  AN   AMERICAN   HERO 

money  on  shore,  and  by  his  indefatigable  exertions 
with  friends  and  acquaintances,  caused  a  supply 
of  the  necessaries  of  life  to  be  at  once  dispatched 
to  the  starving  Islanders,  from  the  nearest  points. 
At  Madeira  and  at  Lisbon  he  made  similar  appeals, 
and  such  was  the  estimate  in  which  he  was  held 
as  a  distinguished  naval  officer  of  the  United 
States,  that  food  in  immense  quantities  at  once 
went  to  that  land  of  starvation  and  woe.  The 
American  Consulate  at  each  of  these  ports,  and 
the  American  Minister  at  Lisbon,  long  after  Bart- 
lett's  return  to  the  United  States,  tendered  him 
the  thanks  of  the  people  and  the  Government  for 
the  successful  efforts  of  a  wise  philanthropy  in 
saving  from  death  so  many  of  the  human  family. 

The  archives  of  the  Portuguese  Legation  in  New 
York  city  furnish  these  facts.  It  was  by  Lieu 
tenant  Bartlett's  interposition,  aided  by  Dr.  Cly- 
mer,  fleet-surgeon  of  the  African  Squadron,  that 
famine  was  stayed,  and  the  pestilence  removed 
from  them. 

Americans,  if  Rome  decreed  a  civic  crown  to 
him  who  had  saved  the  life  of  but  one  citizen, 
what  should  have  been  the  reward  to  one  like 
Bartlett,  whose  record  proves  him  a  rare  bene 
factor  of  his  race  ? 


THE   VICTIM   OP   A   CONSPIRACY.  329 

And  yet,  while  in  the  performance  of  acts  like 
these,  which  elevated  his  national,  as  well  as  per 
sonal  character,  we  find  a  small  lieutenant,  devoid 
of  any  consequence  through  his  services,  and 
without  a  solitary  claim  upon  the  respect  or  gra 
titude  of  a  single  junior,  exercising  his  unmiti 
gated  selfishness  and  envy,  by  daring  to  assail,  in 
the  secret  councils  of  an  inquisition,  a  man  like 
Bartlett,  whom  the  God  of  nature  has  made  his 
superior. 

And  this  same  Misroon,  the  implacable  enemy 
of  Lieutenant  Bartlett,  has  maligned  the  char 
acter  of  that  officer,  by  assailing  his  personal  and 
official  reputation,  and  in  the  face  of  the  most 
irrefragable  proof,  asserted  that  Bartlett  was  with 
out  friends  in  the  Pacific  Squadron,  or  the  asso 
ciation  which  belonged  to  officers  of  his  rank. 

No  friends  !  No  social  intercourse  !  Let  us 
see  !  Bartlett  commanded  the  "  Argo,"  an  armed 
prize  in  the  Gulf  of  California,  and  subsequently, 
another  brig,  also  a  prize  to  the  "Portsmouth,'' 
and  as  such,  was  continually  consulted  by  Shu- 
brick,  for  the  local  information  of  the  coast  which 
he  possessed,  and  was  a  constant  guest  at  his 
table,  as  he  was  at  every  table  in  the  squadron. 

Lieutenants  Chatard,  Heywood,  Selden,  Wise, 


330  AN   AMERICAN    HERO 

Montgomery  and  Henry  Lewis,  M'Cree,  Stanley, 
Maddox,  Tansil,  M'Lanahan  (killed  at  San  Jose"), 
Duncan,  Carter,  Stephen  H.  Rowan,  Bullock,  the 
gallant  and  deservedly  popular  commander  of  the 
"Cahawba"  steam  packet-ship  ;  Fleet-Surgeon 
Dr.  Charles  Chase,  Captain  Watson,  M.  C.,  Lieu 
tenant  Revere,  Pursers  Rodman  M.  Price  (the 
present  Governor  of  New  Jersey),  Spieden,  the 
late  Dr.  Powell,  etc.,  etc.,  etc.  ;  Mr.  John  Par- 
rott,  and  Mr.  Bolton  at  Mazatlan  ;  Mr.  Larkin  at 
Monterey,  and  Lienenduff,  Howard,  Mellus,  etc., 
etc.,  at  San  Francisco,  American  consuls  and 
merchants,  at  whose  houses  and  tables  Lieutenant 
Bartlett  was  ever  a  welcome  guest.  These,  with 
scores  too  numerous  to  mention  here,  were  then 
his  friends,  and  remain  so  to  this  day.* 


*  Young  Midshipman  Downs,  the  brother-in-law  of  Misroon,  who 
joined  the  Portsmouth  at  Misroon's  solicitation,  has  become  ever 
since  the  warm  and  intimate  friend  of  Bartlett,  and  subsequently 
visited  him  at  Key  West,  to  renew  the  association,  and  recur  to 
their  travels  in  the  Pacific  and  Mexican  services. 

There  are  other  ways  besides,  which  society  recognizes  as  the 
true  test  of  friendly  consideration !  We  have  seen  the  notes  and 
obligations  for  money,  which  Bartlett  holds  over  the  sign  manual 
of  his  brother  officers.  And  Lieutenant  William  Gibson,  Captain 
J.  0.  Rich,  marine  corps,  Lieutenant  Hart,  Dr.  Hill,  Lieutenants 
Hanell,  Harrison,  Perry,  and  others,  will  attest  that  no  officer  ever 
called  on  Lieutenant  Bartlett  for  pecuniary  aid,  who  did  not 
receive  it. 


THE  VICTIM   OF  A  CONSPIRACY.  331 


SECTION   IV. 

In  this  connection  we  will  for  a  moment  ask 
the  reader's  attention  to  the  proof. 

An  American  consul  died  suddenly  at  his  post. 
His  nephew  was  the  companion  of  Bartlett  on 
the  ship.  No  money  could  be  found  belonging  to 
the  deceased  to  reimburse  the  funeral  expenses. 
In  a  foreign  land,  where  all  parties  are  strangers, 
these  expenses  have  to  be  provided,  even  before 
the  interment  of  the  body. 

With  no  visible  means,  the  small  pay  of  the 
nephew  did  not  justify  his  assumption  of  the  debt, 
and  no  one  appeared  who  was  willing  to  take  the 
responsibility. 

Bartlett  alone  stood  forth,  the  firm  friend  of  the 
sufferer.  "Draw  your  bill,"  said  he,  "  on  any 
party  whom  you  regard  as  your  uncle's  friend  in 
the  United  States.  I  will  endorse  it,  Baring's 
agent  in  this  Island  will  so  negotiate  it,  and  you 
can  have  all  the  money  you  require  for  this  pur 
pose.  Should  your  friend  be  unable  to  meet  the 
bill  in  New  York,  I  will  instruct  my  agent  to  do 
so,  the  moment  it  arrives  !" 

By  this  disinterested  act  of  Bartlett's,  the  name 


332  AN   AMERICAN    HERO 

of  a  man  honored  by  his  country  with  a  commis 
sion  in  a  foreign  land  ;  a  name  appreciated  in  the 
literature  of  his  own  country  ;  a  name  dear  to 
American  citizens,  and  hosts  of  friends,  was  pre 
served  from  desecration  and  slander,  and  the 
honor  of  our  flag  was  preserved,  in  the  estimation 
of  all  who  have  an  American  "  heart !" 

And  the  strongest  evidences  of  this  regard,  has 
since  been  manifested  to  Bartlett,  by  the  friends 
of  the  distinguished  dead.  At  another  period  of 
this  same  cruise,  the  one  in  which  he  served 
abroad,  when  broken  at  home,  an  officer  lay  ill, 
and  the  surgeon  declared  the  necessity  of  his  im 
mediate  return  home.  He  was  without  money, 
and  under  the  circumstances,  a  doubt  arose,  as  to 
drawing  it  from  the  public  chest.  To  relieve  the 
depressing  influence  this  was  making  on  the 
invalid,  Bartlett  came  to  his  side,  and  begged  him 
to  banish  all  anxiety  on  that  account,  promising  all 
the  money  needed  to  restore  him  to  his  friends.  It 
was,  however,  decided  that  the  sum  was  due  from 
the  government.  But,  the  generous  tender,  and 
its  e"ffect  upon  the  officer,  is,  to  this  hour,  a 
subject  of  his  grateful  eulogy  upon  Bartlett.* 

*  In  the  winter  of  1851  and  '2,  Bartlett  was  one  day  at  the  navy 
agent's,  in  New  York,  when  two  interesting  youths  called,  and 


THE   VICTIM   OF    A  CONSPIRACY.  333 

Lieut.  Washington  A.  Bartlett  belongs  to  the 
family  of  Josiah  Bartlett,  who  first  appended  his 
name  to  the  Charter  of  our  Independence.  He 
was  appointed  Midshipman  in  the  Navy  by 
General  Jackson,  January  1833,  while  the  De 
partment  was  under  the  administration  of  Hon. 
Levi  Woodbury.  Well  instructed  in  mathe 
matics,  nautical  astronomy,  and  navigation,  he 
was  immediately  selected  by  Commodore  Wads- 
worth  as  his  "  aid,'7  and  sailed  in  the  Yincennes 
to  the  Pacific.  There  he  joined  Capt.  Lavallette, 
and  after  active  service  for  two  years,  rejoined 
Commodore  Wadsworth,  who  had  shifted  his  flag 
to  the  Brandy  wine. 

exhibited  orders  to  proceed  "  without  delay  "  to  Norfolk,  to  rejoin  the 
"San  Jacinto,"  being  midshipmen.  They  stated  they  were  sud 
denly  detached  (from  cause  unknown  to  them),  at  New  York,  and 
having  exhausted  their  pay  in  fitting  out  a  new  mess,  were  in  arrears 
for  board,  and  without  means  to  reach  Norfolk.  The  case  was 
modestly  and  feelingly  presented,  but  without  eliciting  aid  from  the 
agent  of  the  government,  who  informed  them  that  he  had  no 
authority  to  advance  for  such  expenses,  and  they  must  telegraph  to 
the  department.  But  how  could  they,  without  a  dollar!  Bartlett 
followed  them  out,  having  heard  with  emotion  their  pathetic,  but 
simple  story.  He  knew  the  necessity  of  prompt  obedience  to 
orders,  and  sympathizing  with  their  condition,  he  at  once  tendered 
the  money,  and  urged  their  quick  departure.  These  young  officers 
gave  their  note  for  immediate  payment  from  Norfolk,  which  was 
done,  and  it  was  not  until  the  business  transaction  was  being  con 
summated,  that  they  knew  their  benefactor  as  Washington  A.  Bart 
lett,  a  brother  officer  I 


334  AN    AMERICAN    HERO 

During  this  period,  Midshipman  Bartlett  at 
tained  proficiency  in  the  Spanish  language,  assid 
uously  devoting  those  hours  to  study  which  his 
comrades  were  wont  to  give  to  recreation.  An 
incident  occurred  shortly  after  Bartlett  entered 
the  Fairfield,  under  Captain,  now  Commodore 
Lavallette,  which  furnishes  the  strongest  evidence 
of  confidence  reposed  in  that  young  officer  by 
his  superiors,  as  well  as  the  necessity,  of  under 
standing  the  native  tongue  of  a  people  with  whom 
we  are  daily  associated. 

Commodore  Wadsworth,  of  the  Vincennes, 
and  Captain  Lavallette,  of  the  Fairfield,  each 
twenty-four  guns,  had  forced  General  Mina,  who 
carried  an  admiral's  flag  on  board  the  Columbian 
frigate  Columbia,  of  sixty-four  42-pounders,  and 
600  men,  into  a  treaty,  which  guaranteed  to  our 
flag  the  possession  of  the  ship  until  the  meeting 
of  the  Columbian  Congress  in  1834.  General  Mina, 
with  his  staff,  and  500  artillerists,  was  also  to  leave 
the  ship,  which  had  long  closed  the  Guayaquil 
river  against  American  commerce,  and  made 
almost  piratical  exactions  upon  our  citizens.  The 
American  ships,  fearing  treachery,  or  an  attempt 
to  escape,  had  been  prepared  for  action  since 
entering  the  river ;  but  after  the  treaty  was 


THE   VICTIM   OF   A  CONSPIRACY.  335 

signed,  the  Yincennes  proceeded  to  visit  the  city 
of  Guayaquil,  and  announce  the  favorable  result 
to  American  commerce.  No  sooner  had  she  got 
out  of  sight  (being  night)  than  a  revolt  took  place 
on  the  Columbia,  and  the  time  was  occupied  in 
silently  placing  her  in  a  perfect  state  of  defense. 
These  proceedings  were  watched  by  the  Ameri 
cans  on  board  the  Fairfield,  but  the  hour  of  sur 
render  by  the  treaty  was  not  to  be  until  nine 
o'clock  next  morning. 

At  8' 40  a  boat  was  sent  by  Captain  Lavallette 
to  the  frigate,  to  inform  her  that  at  nine  o'clock 
a  prize  officer  would  be  sent  to  receive  her,  and 
watch  the  landing  of  the  crew.  The  answer 
returned  was,  that  Mina  no  longer  commanded, 
that  a  colonel  and  naval  commodore  now  held 
control,  that  no  treaty  would  be  recognized,  and 
that  they  were  prepared  to  stand  to  their  guns. 

Captain  Lavallette  now  called  to  Midshipman 
Bartlett,  and  in  the  firmest,  clearest  tone  of  voice, 
said  to  him,  in  presence  of  all  on  board,  "  Proceed 
to  the  Columbia,  and  say  to  whoever  may  be  in 
command,  that  unless  when  th'e  bell  strikes  two 
(or  nine  o'clock)  I  see  her  boats  manned,  and  her 
crew  leaving  the  ship,  and  you  inform  me  that 
you  are  in  command,  as  her  prize  officer  by  five 


336  AN    AMERICAN    HERO 

minutes  past  nine,  I  will  open  my  fire  on  her, 
1  and  sink  her,  boys,  we  must ;  or  she  will  sink 
us.'  Stay  on  board,  when  you  get  there,"  con 
tinued  he,  "  and  let  me  see  you  on  her  rail  as 
quickly  as  possible,  saying  yes  or  no." 

Bartlett  landed  on  the  deck  of  the  frigate  with 
out  resistance,  in  the  presence  of  the  old  veteran 
follower  of  Bolivar,  and  his  scores  of  officers,  and 
immediately,  like  a  high  spirited  American  youth, 
delivered  his  message  and  defiance.  Its  boldness 
astonished  commander  and  officers,  and  after  a 
short  consultation,  before  the  "  bell  struck  two, 
or  nine  o'clock,"  the  commander  said  to  Bartlett, 
"  The  artillery  will  land  as  you  direct,  and  the 
sea  officers  and  men,  with  the  ship,  are  yours,  to 
save  the  effusion  of  blood" 

After  a  prompt  execution  of  this  order,  Bart 
lett  inspected  the  ship,  and  found  the  most  ample 
resources,  and  preparation  for  battle  had  been 
made.  The  magazine  passage  was  strewed  with 
loose  powder,  which  was  immediately  flooded, 
and  all  fires  forbidden. 

The  wonder  was,  that  they  had  not  instantly 
blown  up  the  ship,  with  Bartlett  on  board.  It  is 
very  rare  that  a  young  midshipman  has  an  opportu 
nity  to  deliver  such  a  message  from  a  twenty-four 


THE   VICTIM  OF  A  CONSPIRACY.  337 

gun  ship,  of  200  men,  to  a  frigate  of  sixty-four 
guns  and  600  men !  Its  success,  too,  was  still 
more  remarkable,  which  nothing  but  the  indomi 
table  energy  and  American  heroism  of  Captain 
Lavallette  and  his  officers  could  have  accom 
plished, 

SECTION  v. 

The  late  Lieutenant,  Commanding,  W.  P. 
McArthur  (who  distinguished  himself,  and  re 
ceived  three  wounds  in  Florida),  and  Colonel 
Morrison,  who  so  gallantly  led  the  Illinois  regi 
ment  in  their  desperate  fighting  at  Buena  Yista, 
under  General  Taylor,  were  Bartlett's  messmates 
at  that  time,  in  the  Fairfield.  The  gallant  com 
mander,  H.  W.  Morris,  of  New  York,  then  a 
lieutenant,  commanded  the  second  division  of  the 
Fairfield 's  guns,  and  this  surprising  victory  over  a 
superior  force  was  obtained  by  the  surpassing 
firmness  and  efficiency  of  American  men. 

Suppose,  now,  Bartlett  had  not  spoken  the 
language  of  the  people,  no  matter  how  great  his 
other  qualities,  he  could  not  have  been  sent  on 
this  fearful  mission.  Instead  of  returning  to  the 
United  States  in  the  "  Fairfield,"  Midshipman 
Bartlett  lengthened  his  cruise  to  four  years  and 


338  AN   AMERICAN    HERO 

over,  and  on  rejoining  the  "  Brandy  wine"  again, 
became  aid  to  the  commodore,  with  whom  he 
determined  to  continue,  until  he  should  haul  down 
his  flag. 

In  that  period  of  revolution  and  counter-revo 
lution  in  Lima  and  Peru,  generally,  the  com 
modore  was  detained  there.  And  while  his  ship 
lay  at  Callao,  his  "  aid"  was  constantly  exposed 
on  that  celebrated  robber  and  assassin's  course, 
the  "road  to  Lima,"  while  bearing  the  commo 
dore  ?s  dispatches  to  and  from  the  ship  ;  which 
duty,  like  all  others,  he  fulfilled  to  the  letter  and 
spirit. 

There  are  eminent  merchants  now  in  New 
York,  who  can  bear  testimony  to  the  valuable 
services  of  Commodore  Wadsworth  and  his  offi 
cers,  during  the  Gamorra,  Santa  Cruz,  Salavery, 
and  Arbegosa  wars  in  Peru.  At  one  period  for 
weeks,  the  "Brandy wine"  had  about  two  hundred 
ladies,  gentlemen,  and  children  guests  of  her  offi 
cers. 

In  August,  1837,  Lieutenant  Bartlett  was  or 
dered  to  the  receiving  ship  of  Capt.  Montgomery, 
when  an  intimacy  and  friendship  between  this 
admirable  Commander  and  the  youthful  subaltern 
was  formed,  which  has  never  faltered  in  the  sue- 


THE   VICTIM  OF  A  CONSPIRACY.  339 

ceeding  series  of  years.  We  remember  the  name 
of  Montgomery  embellishing  the  naval  history  of 
the  country  in  the  successful  part  he  bore  in 
Perry's  victory  on  Lake  Erie.*  The  service  of  a 
receiving  ship  was  not,  however,  suited  to  one  of 
the  professional  ambition  of  Bartlett,  and  we  soon 
find  him  transferred  to  the  frigate  "  Fulton,"  the 
second,  under  Captain,  now  Commodore  Perry, 
and  the  letter  given  by  this  distinguished  officer 
to  Midshipman  Bartlett,  to  present  to  the  Board 
of  Examiners,  indicated  the  warm  personal  regard 
•which  it  is  well  known  that  gentleman  now  bears 
towards  Lieutenant  Bartlett.  Having  been  de 
tained  by  illness  in  New  York,  when  the  Fulton 
Bailed  to  Washington,  he  next  reported  himself, 
as  ordered,  to  Commodore  Ridgely,  for  duty  at 
the  navy  yard,  and  to  attend  the  lectures  of  Pro 
fessor  Word,  preparatory  to  examination.  This 

*  Such  was  Captain  Montgomery's  confidence  in  the  judgment 
and  skill  of  Bartlett,  that  when  one  night  in  the  Pacific,  into  which 
he  had  not  been  himself,  a  night  of  the  deepest  darkness,  with  baf 
fling  winds  and  hidden  dangers  on  all  sides,  he  communicated  his 
anxiety  to  Lieutenant  Bartlett  to  be  in  port  before  morning.  "If  I 
command  the  ship,"  said  Bartlett,  "  I  will  certainly  go  in ;  though 
J  have  not  seen  it  for  ten  years."  "That  is  sufficient,"  said  Oapt. 
M.,  "  take  the  ship,  sir."  And  at  daylight,  next  morning,  great 
was  the  astonishment  of  the  people  to  find  a  large  American  ship  in 
port,  and  being  just  before  the  Mexican  war,  caused  much  surprise 
among  the  Mexican  oilicers  of  the.  place. 


340  AN    AMERICAN   HERO 

ordeal  he  passed  at  Philadelphia,  in  1839;  and 
without  the  aid  of  any  connection  with  Commo 
dores  or  Washington  officials,  Bartlett  took  No.  7 
in  a  class  of  32  !  He  was  immediately  selected 
by  Lieutenant  Commanding  Glenn  with  a  party 
of  young  officers,  to  survey  "southern  harbors," 
and  when  finished,  we  find  him  the  succeeding 
year  prosecuting  that  service  under  Commander 
Powell.  While  on  this  expedition,  Bartlett  was 
promoted  to  an  acting  lieutenancy,  and  made  the 
executive  officer  of  the  steamer  "Poinsett,"  while 
under  Powell's  command.  It  was  then  that  the  su 
perb  survey  of  Tampa  Bay,  Florida,  was  made  by 
the  officers  of  the  "  Poinsett;  the  most  magnificent 
sheet  of  water  which  had  then  been  surveyed  by 
American  officers  south  of  the  Chesapeake.  Cap 
tains  Glenn  and  Powell  have  ever  borne  testimo 
ny  to  the  skill,  ability,  and  zeal  which  Bartlett 
rendered  to  the  service  in  these  surveys  of  the 
southern  waters  of  the  United  States. 


SECTION   VI. 

In  1842,  Bartlett  was  ordered  to  the  coast 
survey,  under  that  most  distinguished  hydrogra- 
pher,  Commander  Gedney,  and  was,  for  two 


THE   VICTIM   OF   A  CONSPIRACY.  341 

years,  actively  engaged  with  him  in  the  prosecu 
tion  of  this  great  work,  between  New  York  and 
Delaware  Bay.  The  exposure  of  life  to  imminent 
peril,  in  these  coast  works,  is  best  known  to  those 
who  are  familiar  with  the  subject.  And  any 
well-informed  naval  officer  knows  that  it  requires 
more  than  the  usual  science  of  seamanship  to  be 
come  an  accomplished  surveyor,  or  hydrographer. 
There  is  a  quick  perception  and  ready  judgment 
called  constantly  into  exercise,  in  the  physical 
difficulties  which  occur  at  every  step,  and  which 
must  be  overcome  by  the  strongest  resolution  to 
submit  to  whatever  risk  the  occasion  might  pre 
sent.  For  such  duty,  Bartlett  has  ever  been  seen 
to  be  highly  efficient,  and  when  he  left  that  service, 
in  1844,  he  bore  the  highest  evidences  of  the 
confidence  and  esteem  of  his  superiors.  He  was 
next  attached  to  the  naval  rendezvous,  at  New 
York,  for  some  months,  when  he  was  ordered  to 
the  "  Portsmouth,"  as  sailing-master,  but  he  soon 
became  the  junior  lieutenant,  and  made  the 
cruise  of  three  years  and  ten  months  in  the 
Pacific  ocean,  and,  during  the  entire  Mexican 
war,  was  on  the  West  coast  of  Mexico,  or  some 
part  of  California. 

It  was  on  this  cruise  of  the  "Portsmouth," 


342  AN    AMERICAN    HERO 

that  Misroon,  one  of  the  Inquisition,  acted  as  the 
executive  officer  of  the  ship.  Lieutenant  Mis 
roon  there  showed  so  total  and  selfish  a  disregard 
for  the  comfort  of  others,  that  every  watch  officer 
sought  the  earliest  opportunity  to  escape  his  con 
tact.  Lieutenants  Shenck,  Forrest,  and  Carter, 
left  the  ship  the  very  first  opportunity.  And  it 
is  a  singular  fact  that,  among  all  the  active  offi 
cers  of  the  ship,  that  joined  her  at  Portsmouth, 
Lieutenant  Bartlett  was  the  only  one  who  ad 
hered  to  his  post,  and,  although  he  did  not  like 
the  personal  bearing  of  Misroon,  his  habits  of 
subordination  (the  surest  test  of  the  future  influ 
ence  of  an  officer)  were  such,  that  he  never,  for  a 
moment,  forgot  his  own  dignity,  or  the  respect 
duty  required  him  to  render  to  the  executive  of 
the  ship,  without  regard  to  the  personnel  of  the 
man  who  filled  that  position. 

In  making  this  exposition  of  the  character  and 
services  of  Lieutenant  Bartlett,  the  author  has 
had  not  only  the  data,  but  the  vouchers  before 
her  for  every  item  that  has  been  stated.  And 
she  asserts,  without  the  fear  of  refutation,  that  so 
overwhelming  is  the  proof  of  the  scrupulous 
integrity  and  honor  of  Lieutenant  Bartlett,  that 
no  unprejudiced  mind  can  resist  the  conclusion, 


THE  VICTIM   OF   A  CONSPIRACY.  343 

after  investigating  this  evidence,  that  he  has  been 
basely  wronged  by  the  unscrupulous  action  of  a 
cabal,  instigated  by  unprincipled  and  envious 
revilers ! 

We  do  not  believe  that  a  higher  integrity 
ever  characterized  the  settlement  of  any  official 
accounts  under  this  government  than  has  been 
displayed  by  Lieutenant  Bartlett.  And  if, 
after  an  entire  knowledge  of  all  the  facts  in 
this  connection,  it  could  have  been  pronounced 
otherwise,  then  those  of  General  Washington, 
during  the  American  Revolution,  would  not 
have  passed  unscathed ! 

It  is  a  crying  shame,  a  burning  shame,  that 
this  American  citizen  has  been  so  outrageously 
maligned  and  persecuted  in  the  service  of  his 
country !  And  as  the  honor  of  that  country  is 
identified  with  the  character  of  its  true  men,  so 
has  the  nation  been  dishonored  by  those  who 
have  trampled  down  its  naval  heroes,  and  in  a 
spirit  of  merciless  recklessness,  without  contri 
tion  or  remorse,  consummated  an  act  which 
would  not  have  been  tolerated  under  any  despot 
ism  of  Europe ! 

Our  fathers  saw  the  triumph  of  right,  and  left 
to  their  sons  their  speaking  actions.  Shall  that 


344  THE   VICTIM   OF   A   CONSPIRACY. 

heroic  generation  be  slighted  now?  To  give 
peace  and  liberty,  American  men  struck  tyrants 
and  hurled  back  their  thrones !  They  founded 
liberty  on  the  enfranchisement  of  the  mind. 
They  counted  not  parties,  but  principles,  and 
rejected  restrictions,  distinctions,  and  exclusions ! 
We  have  the  witnesses  of  that  great  age  when 
we  started  as  a  nation  into  life,  and  he  that  halts 
now  in  condemning  that  action  which  has  wan 
tonly  outraged  the  personal  and  political  rights  of 
Lieutenant  Bartlett  and  his  associates  in  the  naval 
service,  condemns  and  rejects  the  very  men  who 
gave  to  the  whole  world  America ! 


LUt-ifflLJ 

nocirs 


CENTRAL  AMERICA. 


CHAPTER    I. 

IT  was  our  fathers'  wish  to  keep  the  administra 
tion  of  this  government  in  an  American  sphere. 
They  wanted  no  colonial  or  territorial  dependence. 
They  wanted  to  maintain  the  Union,  and  therefore 
asserted  the  right  of  the  American  people  to  the 
exclusive  control  of  their  own  matters.  They  said, 
in  the  constitution  they  left  us,  that  Congress  could 
sell  the  public  lands,  that  it  could  admit  new 
states,  but  not  a  word  was  mentioned  about  organiz 
ing  any  government  without  the  rights  of  a  state. 

Under  this  constitution  we  Americans  have  sig 
nally  prospered,  while  our  influence  has  exerted  a 
mighty  power  over  all  the  civilized  states  of  the 
world.  There  is  not  a  nation  with  which  we  have 
not  a  commercial  and  political  relation.  There  is 
not  a  country  in  which  our  enterprise  has  not 
15* 


346  CENTRAL   AMERICA. 

entered,  nor  an  ocean  on  which  our  ships  do  not 
float.  American  genius  is  more  or  less  impressed 
upon  every  people  and  clime,  and  mutual  interest 
and  sympathy  bind  us  to  mankind.  We  have  no 
need  now,  Americans,  to  fear  to  assume  the  prin 
ciples  which  have  guided  us  thus  triumphantly ; 
nor  can  we  limit  those  principles  within  our  own 
borders.  Our  example,  our  ideas,  our  discoveries, 
our  inventions,  our  habits  of  life,  our  social,  •politi 
cal,  and  religious  institutions,  must  ultimately  ex 
tend  our  form  of  government.  And  to  see  our 
maxims  securely  applied  to  other  people  ;  to  see 
our  laws,  the  settled  principles  of  equality  and 
justice,  administered  throughout  Christendom ;  to 
see  our  industry  and  enterprise  exacting  equality 
everywhere,  could  not  but  create  an  honest  exulta 
tion  within  the  breast  of  every  true  American. 

We,  then,  my  countrymen,  have  a  mission  to 
perform,  out  of  our  country ;  we  have  to  throw 
our  weight,  in  behalf  of  equality  and  justice,  over 
the  countries  of  the  world,  and  to  guard  with  a 
vigilant  eye  the  principles  of  Protestantism  and 
Americanism,  that  our  own  strength  shall  increase, 
our  own  resources  expand,  and  an  additional  im- 


CENTRAL   AMERICA.  347 

petus  be  given  to  our  moral,  commercial,  and  polit 
ical  greatness. 

On  the  1st  of  July,  1823,  Central  America 
formed  a  federal  republic,  called  the  "United 
Provinces  of  Central  America,"  doubtless  designed 
to  accord  with  our  system  of  government,  and 
adopting  our  constitution  as  its  guide.  The  suc 
ceeding  year,  they  emancipated  all  the  slaves  in 
the  republic,  amounting  to  about  one  thousand, 
and  indemnified  the  owners  for  the  pecuniary  loss. 
The  constitution  of  this  republic  was  ratified  in 
November  of  that  year,  and  the  first  federal  con 
gress  was  convened  the  1st  of  September,  1825. 
But  this  union  did  not  bind  the  states  together 
like  those  of  the  United  States  of  North  America. 
It  did  not  prevent  the  effusion  of  blood.  And  their 
constitution  was  but  "  a  passive  instrument,  power 
less  for  good,  and  only  active  for  unimportant  or 
pernicious  purposes. ' '  The  unchecked  force  of  num 
bers,  influenced  by  bad,  designing  men,  soon  anni 
hilated  the  union,  by  making  the  small  states 
tributary  to  the  larger  ;  a  fate,  Americans,  we  shall 
surely  feel,  if  ever  our  own  beloved  Union  shall  be 
cursed  by  separation. 

On  the  20th  of  July,  1838,  in  the  thirteenth 


348  CENTBAL   AMERICA. 

year  of  the  Central  American  republic,  Congress 
met  for  the  last  time  under  the  constitution,  and 
the  states  returned  to  their  former  political  system. 
In  1840,  General  Francisco  Morazan,  "  the  Wash 
ington  of  Central  America,"  made  an  effort  to 
restore  the  union  of  these  states ;  but  the  Jesuit 
priesthood  united  with  the  Indians,  under  Carrera, 
in  opposing  the  liberties  of  the  people,  and  expelled 
the  "father  of  his  country"  from  his  native  soil. 
Morazan  subsequently  returned,  in  1842,  to  Costa 
Rica,  where  he  was  murdered ;  and  this  consum 
mated  the  destruction  of  that  unfortunate  republic 
in  Central  America.  And,  Americans,  mark  the 
fate  of  that  country,  and  you  will  see,  in  its  feeble 
ness,  suffering,  and  horror,  but  a  faint  picture  of 
what  these  United  States  will  encounter,  if  ever 
the  traitors  within  our  borders  shall  sever  the  bonds 
which  now  hold  us  as  one  people. 

A  light  from  heaven  has  now  guided  a  son  of  our 
American  republic,  to  open  the  way  for  the  beauti 
ful  flag  of  the  free,  to  deliver  that  misguided  people, 
and  bring  them  out  of  the  humiliating  condition  to 
which  tyranny  and  priestcraft  have  subjected  them. 
Gen.  William  Walker,  now  President  of  Nicaragua, 
a  citizen  of  the  United  States,  has  commenced,  and 


CENTRAL   AMERICA.  349 

we  trust  will  not  fail,  to  renovate  that  land.  He 
was  born  in  Nashville,  Tennessee,  and  his  age 
does  not  exceed  thirty-three  years.  His  personal 
appearance  is  not  commanding,  by  any  means ; 
being  of  small  stature,  without  the  prepossession  of 
address  or  manner.  But  there  is  an  expression  of 
meekness,  accompanied  by  a  nasal  tone  and  slug 
gish  utterance,  which  would  arrest  attention  in 
any  assembly  ;  and  these  peculiarities  made  young 
Walker  a  subject  of  interest  at  a  very  early  age. 

He  was  remarkable,  as  a  boy,  for  the  ardor  of 
his  friendships,  the  amiability  of  his  disposition, 
and  his  obliging  character  towards  his  companions. 
If  a  "hard  sum,"  or  an  "  awful  lesson,"  was  ex 
citing  his  young  friends,  Walker  was  eagerly 
sought  to  remove  the  difficulty.  He  was  never 
known  to  be  at  recitation  unprepared,  and  was  so 
sensitive  of  his  reputation  at  school,  that  the 
slightest  mistake  or  blunder  he  might  make  would 
affect  him  to  tears.  He  rarely  then  was  known  to 
laugh,  although  he  often  participated  in  the  amuse 
ments  of  his  companions. 

But,  to  give  the  secret  of  Walker's  rise  from  the 
modest  school-boy  of  Nashville  to  the  presidency 
of  Nicaragua,  we  must  tell  you  he  had  a  good 


350  CENTBAL   AMERICA. 

mother,  an  American  woman,  who  loved  God  anc 
her  country,  and  by  gentleness,  affection,  and 
purity,  exemplified  and  inculcated  into  the  mind  of 
her  son  the  faith  and  doctrine  of  our  Protestani 
Bible.  He  thus,  as  the  eldest  of  four  children,  be 
came  the  reliance  of  his  widowed  mother,  and  by 
the  amiability  of  his  disposition,  and  the  sweetness 
of  his  temper,  supplied  the  place  of  a  daughter  to 
her  as  a  companion. 

Walker  was  educated  a  Christian  youth,  and 
made  a  proficient  in  Christian  law.  This  stimu 
lated  him  to  spread  American  principles,  and  en 
listed  the  sympathy  of  his  fellow-men  in  his  new 
and  important  mission  of  introducing  a  new  admin 
istration  and  laws,  exciting  enterprise,  and  pro 
claiming  human  rights  and  freedom  in  that  darkened 
land.  He  was  originally  intended  for  the  ministry, 
but  a  visit  to  Europe  interposed,  and  he  remained 
in  Paiis  two  years  to  prosecute  the  studies  of  law 
and  physics.  He  returned  home,  and  connected 
himself  with  the  editorial  corps  of  his  country,  first 
at  New  Orleans,  where  he  was  connected  with  the 
Crescent,  and  then  with  the  Herald,  at  San  Fran 
cisco,  California. 

His  independence,  as  well  as  ability,  soon  made 


CENTRAL   AMBEICA.  351 

him  a  terror  to  evil  doers ;  and  an  article  reflecting 
upon  the  judiciary  in  California  caused  him  to  be 
arraigned  for  contempt  of  court.  He  was  con 
demned,  and  made  to  pay  a  fine  of  five  hundred 
dollars,  and  suifer  incarceration. 

This  tyranny  excited  the  just  indignation  of  even 
that  community,  and  every  public  demonstration 
was  made  to  encourage  Walker  in  his  advocacy  of 
the  liberties  of  the  people.  When  he  afterwards 
appeared  before  the  legislature  to  demand  the 
removal  of  this  unjust  judge,  he  awakened  the  con 
fidence  and  respect  of  the  assembly,  although  he 
failed  to  secure  the  expulsion  of  his  enemy. 

Gen.  Walker's  first  military  effort  was  directed 
to  conquer  Sonora,  in  northern  Mexico.  But  the 
brig  was  seized  in  which  his  party  were  to  embark, 
by  the  interference  of  the  government.  This  mo 
mentary  detention  was  followed  by  greater  suc 
cess  on  the  part  of  Walker  ;  and,  landing  in  Lowei 
California,  in  October,  1853,  he  was  soon  declared 
president  of  that  country. 

The  motive  which  influenced  Walker  was  frankly 
exposed,  namely,  to  take  possession  of  Mexico,  by 
first  securing  the  provinces  of  the  north.  The 
invasion  of  Sonora  was  then  made.  His  numbers 


352  CENTRAL    AMERICA. 

became  reduced  by  desertion  and  starvation,  and  he 
and  his  surviving  men,  clothed  in  tattered  garments, 
were  compelled  to  retreat.  This  expedition  occu 
pied  seven  months,  when  Walker  returned  to  Cali 
fornia,  and  resumed  his  occupation  of  editor. 

In  August,  1854,  a  company,  formed  for  commer 
cial  purposes,  organized  in  California,  and  set  sail 
for  the  gold  regions  of  Central  America.  After  an 
absence  of  some  months,  it  was  proposed  to  aug 
ment  their  forces,  and  send  for  Walker,  to 
enlist  in  negotiations  with  the  Spanish  American 
republics.  A  grant  of  twenty-one  thousand  acres 
of  land  was  offered  this  party  to  enlist  in  the 
democratic  cause,  and  the  siege  of  Granada. 
Walker  demanded  fifty-two  thousand  acres,  and 
would  consent  to  nothing  less.  This  proposition 
was  accepted,  and  after  five  months  of  preparation, 
attended  by  formidable  opposition  on  the  part  of 
capitalists,  he  embarked  early  in  May,  1855,  upon 
the  enterprise  of  colonizing  these  states  by  Ameri 
can  means,  and  on  American  principles.  Sixty- 
two  persons  composed  this  entire  expedition,  armed 
each  with  a  rifle,  revolvers,  and  knives. 

The  scenes  of  massacre  and  carnage  which  fol 
lowed  the  dissolution  of  the  union  in  Central 


CENTRAL    AMERICA.  353 

America,  demonstrated  that  these  people  were  unfit 
for  self-government.  In  Nicaragua  and  Guatemala, 
particularly,  the  strife  had  become  most  fearful 
with  the  Indian  and  negro,  in  opposition  to  the  old 
Spanish  races. 

Two  years  ago,  Castellan,  a  republican  democrat, 
without  the  support  of  wealth  or  power,  attempted 
to  redeem  his  oppressed  countrymen,  by  intro 
ducing  the  principles  of  freedom.  He  was  opposed 
by  Chamorro,  a  haughty  aristocrat,  who,  by  intrigue 
and  wealth,  secured  his  reelection,  against  the  will 
of  the  people.  Castellan  and  other  political  oppo 
nents  were  then  thrown  into  prison.  The  Supreme 
Court  was  abolished,  and  these  men  finally  banished 
from  the  country. 

Castellan  fled  to  Honduras,  where,  under  the 
protection  of  President  Cabanos,  the  friend  and 
patron  of  human  rights,  they  conceived  the  idea  of 
revolutionizing  Nicaragua  for  the  sake  of  liberty. 
Castellan  and  his  associates  returned  and  triumphed. 
He  became  Provisional  Director,  which  office  he 
held  until  his  death,  September,  1855. 

The  priesthood,  the  most  powerful  enemy  to  the 
rights  of  the  people  in  Central  America,  as  every 
where  else  where  they  prevail,  now  united  with  the 


354  CENTRAL    AMERICA. 

autocrat  Chamorra,  to  defeat  the  liberals  ;  and  this 
proud  demagogue  obtained  almost  the  entire  state 
of  Nicaragua.  At  this  crisis  Chamorra  died,  and, 
amidst  the  savage  ferocity  which  followed  among 
his  chiefs,  who  assumed  the  quarrel,  General  Walker 
entered,  and  arrested  the  career  of  bloodshed  by 
the  immediate  restoration  of  peace  and  order. 

Gen.  Walker  repaired  to  Leon,  the  capital  of 
the  state,  exhibited  his  contract,  and  reported  him 
self  ready  for  action. 

The  ministry  had  steadily  opposed  the  coming  of 
the  Americans ;  and  Walker,  disgusted  by  their 
delay  to  give  him  a  formal  recognition,  was  about 
embarking  for  Honduras  to  aid  the  patriot  Cabanos 
against  Guatemala,  when  a  courier  was  despatched 
entreating  him  to  stop,  and  the  next  day  the 
Americans  enlisted  in  the  cause  of  Nicaragua. 


CHAPTER    II. 

THE  battle  of  Rivas  was  the  first  to  engage  the 
fifty-eight  Americans  who  were  then  under  Walker. 
He  added  to  that  number  one  hundred  natives,  who 
fled  at  the  first  fire,  leaving  the  Americans  to 
encounter  five  hundred  of  the  enemy  alone.  The 
fight  continued  several  hours,  and  while  the  Ameri 
cans  left  double  their  own  number  of  the  enemy 
dead  on  the  field,  they  remained  without  the  loss 
of  a  hair  of  their  heads.  Walker,  seeing  the  odds 
of  eight  to  one  was  too  great  an  exposure,  made  for 
a  house  where  the  enemy  was  sheltered,  and  drove 
them  out  and  occupied  it.  These  Chamorrins 
then  held  a  council,  and  decided  to  dislodge  them  ; 
but  every  attempt  was  made  futile  by  American 
shot,  which  was  poured  into  each  as  he  attempted 
to  approach.  At  night,  however,  the  Americans 
fought  their  way  out,  and  retreated  to  Virgin  Bay. 

This  Rivas  battle  inspired  the  Nicaraguans 
with  such  awe  of  American  arms,  that  they 


356  CENTRAL    AMERICA. 

regarded  it  certain  death  to  go  within  three  hundred 
yards  of  their  rifles.  Gen.  Bocha  owned  one  hun 
dred  and  eighty  killed  in  that  fight,  and  the 
conduct  which  the  Americans  displayed  under  such 
fearful  odds  soon  encouraged  the  democratic  party 
to  hope  for  success  under  the  intrepid  Walker. 

The  battle  of  Virgin  Bay  followed  next.  Here, 
again,  the  fifty-eight  Americans,  with  one  hundred 
and  twenty  natives,  were  all  Walker's  force,  while 
the  servile  party  had  five  hundred  and  forty. 
Beside,  they  had  cannon,  and  were  protected  by 
timber,  while  the  Walker  party  were  exposed  in  the 
streets.  But  these  enemies  to  freedom  were  again 
routed.  Gen.  Walker  was  struck  by  a  spent  ball 
in  this  battle,  and  other  Americans  escaped  in  a  no 
less  remarkable  manner. 

The  Americans,  after  making  a  good  impression 
at  Virgin  Bay,  proceeded  to  San  Juan,  where,  with 
death  meeting  them  at  every  turn  by  cholera,  this 
little  American  band  remained,  encouraged  by  the 
example  of  their  brave  commander.  From  San 
Juan  del  Sur,  Walker,  with  his  troops,  proceeded 
in  October  to  Granada,  where  some  fighting  was 
done,  fifteen  of  the  enemy  being  killed,  and  seven 
taken  prisoners.  The  Americans  were  fired  upon 


CENTRAL   AMERICA.  357 

from  the  Romish  church ;  and,  on  approaching  it, 
found  men,  women,  and  children,  to  the  number  of 
eighty  souls,  chained,  in  abject  misery,  whom  the 
Americans  instantly  released. 

Lieut.  Col.  Gilman,  and  twenty-five  Americans, 
were  now  detailed  to  obtain  the  fort,  a  mile  east 
of  the  city,  which  was  armed  by  forty  men ;  and 
on  the  morning  of  the  13th  October,  1855,  the 
battle  of  Granada  was  fought.  Gen.  Walker,  dis 
carding  the  natives,  had  but  one  hundred  and  ten 
men,  with  whom  he  took  the  Grand  Plaza,  captured 
all  their  artillery,  and,  after  killing  but  ten  men, 
from  three  hundred  to  four  hundred  surrendered  as 
prisoners.  In  this  engagement,  but  one  American 
was  slightly  wounded. 

Walker's  power  was  now  felt,  and  he  was  then 
military  commander  in  the  vanquished  Sebastopol 
of  Nicaragua.  On  the  day  succeeding  the  battle 
of  Granada,  the  native  citizens  met,  and  adopted 
resolutions  offering  Walker  the  Presidency  of  Ni 
caragua.  This  he  declined  in  favor  of  Gen.  Corral. 

Col.  Wheeler,  the  American  Minister,  was  then 
consulted,  and  requested  to  take  to  Gen.  Corral,  at 
Leon,  a  proposition  of  peace.  Wheeler  at  first 
declined,  under  the  fear  that  it  might  compromise 


358  CENTRAL  AMERICA. 

his  government ;  but,  becoming  satisfied  that  it  did 
not,  he  proceeded  at  once  to  Rivas.  Corral  was 
absent ;  and,  after  a  few  hours,  Wheeler  ordered 
his  horses,  to  return,  when  he  was  told  he  could 
not  leave,  and  armed  soldiers  were  placed  at  his 
door.  Thus  detained  for  two  days,  his  friends 
became  alarmed  at  his  absence,  and  sent  a  special 
messenger  to  Rivas,  who,  unable  to  enter,  was 
informed  by  a  native  woman,  true  to  the  instincts 
of  humanity,  that  the  American  Minister  was  a 
prisoner. 

The  steamer  Virgin  immediately  proceeded  to 
Rivas  by  the  quickest  water  course,  and  fired  four 
heavily-loaded  cannon  on  Saint  George,  the  nearest 
point  to  the  town.  Col.  Wheeler  then  informed 
the  governor,  through  the  Minister  of  War,  that, 
if  he  was  detained  another  day,  his  friends  would 
attack  Rivas,  and  exterminate  its  population.  This 
produced  the  desired  eifect,  and  Wheeler  obtained 
his  passports,  and  an  escort  of  one  hundred  men  to 
the  ship. 

Reinforcements  now  began  to  pour  into  Nicaragua 
from  California.  Col.  Fry  and  Mr.  Parker  H. 
French  arrived  in  October,  accompanied  by  brave 
and  spirited  men.  They  were  too  late  to  partici- 


CENTRAL  AMERICA.  359 

pate  in  the  conquest  of  Granada,  but  there  were 
still  enough  to  engage  them  in  Nicaragua.  Col. 
Fry  and  Mr.  French  took  passage  in  the  Virgin,  at 
Virgin  Bay ;  and,  determined  to  take  San  Carlos 
by  surprise,  sent  the  captain  and  two  men  ashore, 
requesting  the  immediate  surrender  of  the  fort. 

They  were  seized  and  made  prisoners,  and  the 
steamer  was  fired  into  by  twelve -pound  shot  five 
times.  The  American  riflemen,  detached  from 
Walker,  under  Capt.  Turnbull,  were  then  sent 
ashore,  to  take  the  fort ;  but  their  ammunition  got 
wet  by  the  rain,  and  they  were  obliged  to  retreat 
to  Virgin  Bay.  About  an  hour  after  these  men 
left,  the  New  York  steamer  San  Carlos  arrived, 
and  was  hailed  from  the  fort  before  reaching  it ; 
and  an  eighteen-pounder  was  fired  into  her,  in 
stantly  killing  a  mother  and  child,  residents  of 
California,  and  otherwise  committing  serious  out 
rages  upon  the  ship. 

A  few  days  later,  while  these  passengers  were 
waiting  for  transit  at  Virgin  Bay,  a  troop  of  horse 
men  surprised  them,  and  fired  seventy  shots  over 
their  heads.  The  excitement  now  was  appalling, 
and  passengers  fled  in  all  directions,  while  many 
were  subsequently  caught,  and  deprived  of  their 


360  CENTRAL   AMERICA. 

revolvers.  These  two  steamers,  Virgin  and  San 
Carlos,  then  made  for  Granada,  and  placed  their 
passengers  under  the  protection  of  Col.  Wheeler, 
the  American  Minister. 

While  this  outrage  was  being  perpetrated  on 
passengers  at  Virgin  Bay,  Gen.  Walker  was  in 
Granada,  organizing  the  army,  of  which  he  was 
made  general ;  and  in  sixteen  days  from  his  en 
trance  into  that  city,  peace  had  been  made,  and  a 
new  government  organized. 

Why  did  Walker  thus  become  the  liberator  of 
Nicaragua  ?  We  answer,  because  his  integrity 
inspired  confidence  with  friends  and  enemies  ;  and 
when  he  refused  the  Presidency,  it  carried  convic 
tion  to  the  minds  of  the  people  that  he  would  not 
deceive  them  to  glorify  himself. 

On  the  19th  of  October,  Gen.  Corral  was  inau 
gurated  President  of  the  country.  A  public 
thanksgiving  was  made  for  peace,  and  oaths  taken 
to  perpetuate  it.  "  Look  at  that  man  Walker, 
sent  by  Providence  to  bring  peace,  prosperity,  and 
happiness,  to  this  blood-stained,  unhappy  country," 
was  the  language  of  Padre  Vijil,  who  subsequently 
was  sent  on  a  mission  to  the  United  States,  for  the 
recognition  of  Nicaragua's  independence.  Walker 


CENTRAL   AMERICA.  361 

and  Corral  reviewed  the  army  on  that  day  ;  and  it 
certainly  must  have  gratified  any  American  to 
behold  the  promising  prospect  of  that  country,  in 
an  American  citizen  claiming  to  teach  the  people 
the  rights  and  the  benefits  of  democratic  freedom. 

By  every  monthly  steamer  from  California,  ad 
venturers  flocked  to  Central  America ;  and  from 
both  sides  of  the  continent  Walker's  forces  were 
steadily  augmented,  until  they  had  grown  from  fifty- 
eight  to  upwards  of  one  thousand  men.  Nor  were 
these  emigrants  confined  to  mere  adventurers,  with 
out  education  or  fortune.  On  the  contrary,  men 
imbued  with  the  true  spirit  of  American  progress, 
who  could  look  to  the  future,  and  see  America's 
magnificent  destiny,  were  found  identified  with  the 
"  Nicaragua  Expedition." 

The  devastation  of  war  was  sadly  visible  over  all 
Central  America.  Granada,  upon  whom  a  new  era 
had  then  dawned,  was  reduced  from  thirty  thousand 
to  about  eight  thousand.  Walker  was  soon  placed 
in  emergencies  which  prove  the  real  character  of 
men,  and  settle  the  question  of  fitness  for  mental 
and  moral  responsibility.  A  man  named  Jordan 
had  fired  at  a  native  when  intoxicated  ;  and,  under 

the  belief  that  the  man  would  recover,  Jordan  was 
16 


362  CENTRAL    AMERICA. 

sentenced  by  court  martial  to  leave  the  country. 
Subsequently,  the  man,  however,  died,  and  Walker 
ordered  Jordan  to  be  shot,  next  morning,  by  a  file 
of  twelve  rifles.  The  mother  of  the  boy  went 
down  upon  her  knees,  and  implored  Walker's  clem 
ency.  Padre  Vijil  and  others  also  begged  the 
same,  on  their  knees.  But  Walker  was  inexorable. 
He  had  made  this  stern  decree  to  satisfy  justice, 
and  no  power  could  dissuade  him  from  its  execu 
tion. 

Treason  was  now  discovered  in  the  President  of 
the  country,  and  he  too  was  made  to  pay  the  pen 
alty  of  the  traitor.  Gen.  Corral,  to  whom  Walker 
yielded  the  chief  magistracy,  and  who,  with  the 
Bible  in  one  hand  and  the  treaty  in  the  other,  had 
promised  to  sustain  and  respect  the  government, 
was  proved  to  have  been  plotting  its  entire  destruc 
tion.  Treasonable  design  on  the  part  of  Corral  was 
proved  by  a  fair  trial,  and  he  was  sentenced  to  be 
shot.  Walker  approved  the  finding  of  the  court 
and  sentence  ;  and,  on  November  the  8th,  at  two 
o'clock,  he  ordered  Corral  to  be  led  to  the  great 
square,  in  the  presence  of  the  garrison,  and  die  the 
death  all  traitors  should  die.  Rivas  then  was  made 
President  of  the  country. 


CENTRAL   AMERICA.  363 

At  this  time,  new  reinforcements  came  to  Walk 
er's  aid ;  and  a  letter  to  him  from  Col.  Kinney, 
proposing  to  recognize  Gen.  Walker  as  commander- 
in-chief  of  the  army  of  Nicaragua,  provided 
Walker  would  recognize  him  as  Governor  of  Mos 
quito  Territory.  Walker  thus  characteristically 
replied :  "  Tell  Mr.  Kinney,  or  Col.  Kinney,  or 
Gov.  Kinney,  or  by  whatever  name  he  styles  him 
self,  that,  if  he  interferes  with  the  territory  of 
Nicaragua,  and  I  can  lay  my  hands  on  him,  I  will 
most  assuredly  hang  him." 

The  American  minister,  Mr.  J.  H.  Wheeler, 
officially  recognized  the  new  government  of  Nica 
ragua,  and  he  was  officially  received  by  President 
Rivas  on  the  10th  of  October.  On  the  17th  of  No 
vember,  the  Nicaragueuse  newspaper  was  started; 
and,  with  an  independent  press,  and  a  free  consti 
tutional  government,  it  became  at  once  an  important 
object  to  have  it  recognized  by  all  the  states  of  the 
world,  but,  above  all  others,  by  that  of  these  United 
States.  Col.  Parker  H.  French  was  consequently 
sent  as  minister  plenipotentiary  to  this  government. 
This  placed  the  administration  in  its  usual  attitude 
of  weakness  before  the  world  ;  and,  the  authorities 
at  Washington  becoming  alarmed  about  Central 


364  CENTRAL   AMERICA. 

American  matters,  the  District  Attorney  of  New 
York,  Mr.  McKeon,  was  directed  to  guard  us 
against  fillibusteros  with  a  vigilant  eye.  Here, 
Americans,  with  the  Cuban  affairs  and  the  burn 
ing  of  Greytown  staring  us  in  the  face,  the  ad 
ministration  suddenly  becomes  frightened  at  a  very 
harmless  fact ! 

In  the  mean  while  the  government  of  Nicaragua, 
learning  the  treatment  awarded  to  its  accredited 
minister,  immediately  dismissed  or  suspended  all 
official  communication  with  Mr.  Wheeler,  the 
American  minister,  and  revoked  the  appointment 
of  Mr.  French,  that  he  might  return  to  Nicaragua. 
The  refusal  of  Mr.  Pierce's  administration  to  recog 
nize  this  ambassador  was  based  upon  the  unwar 
ranted  conclusion,  in  view  of  the  facts,  that  Walker's 
government  had  not  been  acknowledged  by  the 
people  of  that  republic.  Col.  French,  instead  of  a 
reception  befitting  his  mission,  was  arrested  on  the 
charge  of  enlisting  soldiers,  and  the  steamer  North 
ern  Light  detained  from  her  regular  trip,  and  pas 
sengers  taken  from  her.  But  American  acumen 
was  quick  to  discern  the  utility  of  Walker's  govern 
ment,  and  the  people,  undaunted  by  the  petty 
refusal  of  Mr.  Pierce  to  sanction  American  rule, — 


CENTRAL  AMERICA.  36o 

which  promised  reform  in  a  foreign  land, —  pressed 
on  with  alacrity  to  Nicaragua,  under  those  inalien 
able  rights  which  are  the  heritage  of  American  men. 

The  early  explorations  in  the  gold  regions  of 
Nicaragua  were  made  under  the  temporary  estab 
lishment  of  peace,  and  satisfactorily  demonstrated 
that,  with  the  advantage  of  such  machinery  as  is 
used  in  California,  the  product  from  them  would  be 
infinitely  greater.  With  the  common  rocker,  from 
five  to  ten  dollars  a  day  were  at  once  realized.  The 
climate  of  Nicaragua,  too,  is  inviting  to  settlers ; 
the  fevers  do  not  prevail  there,  as  in  California  ; 
the  air  is  cool  and  salubrious,  and  labor  is  rarely 
impeded  at  any  season  of  the  year. 

Nothing  can  surpass  the  beauty  of  the  natural 
scenery  of  Nicaragua.  Its  plains,  valleys,  and  vol 
canoes,  the  plumage  of  its  birds,  its  beautiful  verd 
ure,  and  the  ever- vary  ing  hues  of  its  mountain 
ranges,  present  attractions  for  habitation  rarely 
pointed  out  to  man.  Then  the  richness  and  variety 
of  the  products  of  its  soil  are  not  less  noted  ;  and, 
with  the  exception  of  cotton,  there  is  not  a  vegeta 
ble  growth  in  the  United  States  of  America  that 
does  not  flourish  in  Nicaragua. 

What  is  there,  then,  Americans,  to  arrest  or  check 


366  CENTRAL   AMERICA. 

the  advancement  of  this  new  republic  under  Ameri 
can  men?  Nothing  but  interior  impediments,  arising 
from  the  want  of  education  among  the  people.  La 
bor  is  cheap.  It  is  on  the  very  road  of  commercial 
travel,  and  between  our  Pacific  and  Atlantic  states. 
In  point  of  geographical  locality,  with  an  ocean  each 
side,  in  the  great  centre  of  trade,  Nicaragua  must 
become  a  great  "highway"  of  commerce  through 
out  the  world.  Now,  what  she  needs  is  the  right 
kind  of  population.  To  obtain  this,  Americans  must 
have  the  bona  fide  evidences  of  interest.  With  its 
auspicious  position,  its  gold,  and  its  American  pro 
tection,  we  shall  see  American  settlers  increasing 
from  year  to  year. 

The  government  of  Honduras  has  made  grants 
already  to  the  Honduras  mining  and  trading  com 
pany,  of  New  York.  The  daily  discoveries  prove 
the  universal  presence  of  this  metal. 

After  California  was  discovered,  England  became 
alarmed  at  the  travel  across  the  Central  American 
isthmus,  and  thought  there  would  be  another  effort 
to  get  a  ship  canal  between  the  oceans  ;  and,  to 
arrest  Americans  in  taking  exclusive  advantage  of 
this  central  route,  England  brought  about  the 
unique  treaty  of  1850,  made  by  Mr.  Bulwer  on 


CENTRAL  AMERICA.  367 

the  part  of  Great  Britain,  and  Mr.  Clayton  in  be 
half  of  the  government  at  Washington.  This 
"  Clayton-Bulwer  Treaty"  ostensibly  settled  this 
disputed  region ;  and,  under  this  idea,  it  was  con 
firmed  and  ratified.  The  states  of  Central  Amer 
ica  supposed  it  was  a  full  redress  for  their  past 
grievances ;  but  too  soon  they  discovered  the 
whole  affair  was  a  failure,  England  asserting  her 
claim  to  the  "  Ruatan  Islands  "  and  the  "  Mosquito 
coast."  It  is  useless  here  to  inquire  into  the  fal 
lacy  of  this  claim.  It  is  clearly  proven  she  never 
did  of  right  possess  it ;  and  recent  negotiations  at 
London  have  resulted  in  the  entire  withdrawal  from 
this  pretension. 

The  effect  of  our  government's  refusal  to  recog 
nize  the  independence  of  Nicaragua  through  Mr. 
French  was  very  disastrous.  Guatemala,  Hondu 
ras,  and  Costa  Rica,  immediately  followed  the 
example,  and  refused  all  correspondence  with  Walk 
er's  government.  Col.  Schlessenger  was  sent  as 
commissioner  to  Costa  Rica,  to  inquire  into  the 
reasons  of  its  refusal  to  recognize,  stating  that 
Nicaragua  desired  peace  with  all  the  neighboring 
states.  He  was  treated  with  scorn,  and  driven  from 
the  country.  Gen.  Walker  instantly  declared  war 


368  CENTRAL  AMERICA . 

against  Costa  Rica,  and  the  most  energetic  meas 
ures  were  taken  to  avenge  the  insult.  The  Costa 
Rican  government  then  authorized  its.  president 
alone,  or  in  union  with  other  states,  to  take  up  arms 
against  Nicaragua,  and  "  drive  the  foreign  invaders 
from  the  soil."  The  militia  of  Costa  Rica,  amount 
ing  to  nine  thousand,  were  called  into  action,  and 
one  hundred  thousand  dollars  were  immediately 
raised  for  their  support.  The  army  commenced  its 
march  to  Nicaragua  before  the  design  was  known 
to  Gen.  Walker.  A  printing  press  was  taken  along, 
and  daily  bulletins  issued  of  their  progress. 

Schlessenger,  an  unprincipled  German,  was  se 
lected  by  Walker,  more  from  the  spirit  of  retaliation 
than  personal  regard,  to  head  the  forces  sent  against 
Costa  Rica.  This  force  amounted  to  two  hundred 
and  seven  in  number,  commanded  by  Schlessenger, 
when  he  left  Virgin  Bay  for  Costa  Rica.  These 
were  composed  of  two  American  companies  from 
New  York  and  New  Orleans,  and  two  other  compa 
nies  of  Germans  and  Frenchmen. 

The  guides  left  this  little  band  on  reaching  Costa 
Rica ;  and  the  brutal  conduct  of  Schlessenger  to  the 
troops,  requiring  them  to  march  under  a  torrid  sun 
and  lie  by  under  a  cool  moonlight,  and  innumerable 


CENTRAL  AMERICA.  369 

acts  of  cruelty  and  cowardice,  soon  disgusted  the 
Americans,  and  inspired  their  deepest  resentment. 
He  showed,  besides,  marked  difference  in  his  treat 
ment  towards  Americans  and  the  other  troops.  A 
German,  for  example,  who  had  committed  an  act 
which  in  military  law  merited  death,  was  scarcely 
reprimanded  ;  while  a  New  Yorker  came  near  being 
shot  for  picking  up  a  piece  of  bread  as  he  was  walk 
ing.  The  fear  of  American  fire  only  prevented  that 
act  of  the  ignominious  coward. 
16* 


CHAPTER     III. 

THE  battle  of  Santa  Rosa  is  in  all  respects  the 
most  disreputable  engagement  which  ever  occurred 
upon  this  continent,  or  was  associated  with  the 
American  name.  Santa  Rosa  was  the  hacienda 
occupied  by  Schlessenger  and  his  forces  when  they 
fired  upon  the  enemy.  The  Americans  took  their 
position  in  the  front  ranks,  and  while  the  battle 
was  raging,  Schlessenger  appeared  at  the  corner 
of  the  house  behind  the  New  York  troops,  and, 
in  utter  consternation,  cried  out,  "  There  they  are, 
boys!  there  they  are!"  Then,  retreating,  ex 
claimed,  "  Campaigne,  Francaise  !  "  and  ran  with 
his  best  speed,  followed  by  the  Frenchmen.  The 
Germans  caught  the  influence,  and,  dashing  their 
weapons  on  the  ground,  fled  likewise.  The  Amer 
ican  party  remained  unmoved  and  undaunted,  and 
as  soon  as  the  real  intentions  of  the  enemy  were 
discovered,  Lieut.  Higgins  gave  the  order  to  fire, 


CENTRAL  AMERICA.  371 

and  never  did  an  angry  volley  of  shot  go  out  with 
a  greater  will,  or  do  more  effective  execution. 

The  enemy  fell  back,  but,  on  reloading,  pressed 
nearer  to  the  gates  of  the  hacienda,  when  the  brave 
Parker,  engaged  in  checking  them,  was  shot  to  the 
heart.  Cahart,  another  brave  American,  now  took 
his  position  on  the  plaza,  and  shot  the  enemies' 
leader  as  he  rode  up  and  down  their  lines,  and  who 
three  times  before  had  fired  his  rifle  into  the 
American  ranks.  By  this  time,  Major  O'Neill, 
who  had  gone  after  Schlessenger,  returned,  saying 
'  *  he  wanted  to  be  with  the  company  who  would 
fight;"  and  the  New  York  company  then,  seeing 
the  enemy  approaching  with  such  fearful  odds, 
withdrew,  under  O'Neill's  sanction. 

Here  note  the  fact  that  this  New  York  company 
was  the  only  one  which  fired  a  volley  in  that 
action  !  These  forty-four  men  were  reduced  to 
twenty-two  by  the  action,  and  were  the  last  to 
leave  the  spot.  The  enemy,  too,  on  this  occasion, 
beside  being  double  Schlessenger 's  force,  were 
picked  and  tried  soldiers,  who  had  before  fought  the 
Americans  at  the  bloody  battle  of  Rivas.  The 
troops  in  the  American  camp  were  entirely  un 
prepared  for  this  engagement.  And  it  was  not 


372  CENTRAL  AMERICA. 

remarkable  that  rowdies  and  raw  recruits  should 
run,  when  their  leader  took  them  by  surprise  and 
set  the  example.  »  ^ 

The  whole  management  of  this  expedition  to 
invade  Costa  Rica  was  defective,  and  served  to 
warn  Americans  from  taking  arms  again  under  an 
incompetent  leader,  like  Schlessenger,  or  relying  for 
cooperation  upon  men  without  principle,  experience, 
or  patriotism.  Schlessenger  was  caught,  and  tried 
by  court-martial  on  two  indictments,  One  was, 
that  he  had  acted  the  traitor  when  Walker  sent  him 
as  minister  to  Costa  Rica,  and  that  he  betrayed  his 
country  to  that  government.  The  other  was,  cow 
ardice  in  deserting  the  American  army  in  that 
country.  Before  the  court,  however,  had  consum 
mated  the  trial,  Schlessenger  suddenly  disappeared, 
and  joined  the  ranks  of  the  enemy. 

After  Schlessenger 's  defeat  by  the  Costa  Ricans, 
no  effort  was  made  to  impede  their  invasion  of 
Nicaragua,  and  about  three  thousand  concen 
trated  at  Granada.  The  havoc  of  property,  and  the 
murder  of  wounded  American  citizens  residing  at 
Virgin  Bay  and  San  Juan  del  Sur,  are  among  the 
acts  of  the  most  atrocious  barbarity  on  record.  The 
Americans,  however,  found  some  little  redress  for 


CENTRAL   AMERICA.  373 

these  outrages,  a  few  days  later,  when  Col.  Green, 
with  but  fifteen  men,  met  two  hundred  Costa  Ri- 
cans,  killed  twenty-seven  and  dispersed  the  remain 
der,  only  losing  one  man  and  wounding  two 
others  of  that  little  party  of  Americans. 

We  next  find  the  Costa  Eicans  entering  the  city 
of  Bivas,  on  the  7th  of  April,  to  take  possession. 
Gen.  Walker,  on  hearing  this  at  Granada,  deter 
mined  to  expel  the  enemy  from  Rivas  ;  and,  with 
only  five  hundred  men,  including  one  hundred 
natives,  he  made  preparations,  in  a  single  day,  to 
attack  the  enemy  in  their  stronghold,  with  a  prac 
tised  force  of  two  thousand  seven  hundred  men. 
With  this  democratic  party,  Walker  surprised  the 
enemy  by  coming  in  by  a  route  which  they  had  never 
suspected.  But  when  the  troops  were  seen,  as  they 
ascended  the  eminence  to  approach  the  city,  the 
enemy  poured  down  their  batteries  with  tremen 
dous  violence,  which  the  American  forces  returned 
with  such  fierce  energy  and  rapidity,  that  in  five 
minutes  fliey  had  the  entire  possession  of  the 
plaza.  The  Costa  Ricans  fled  to  their  barricades, 
and,  concealing  themselves  for  protection,  continued 
to  fire.  Then,  too,  they  had  the  advantage  of  a 
cannon,  which  made  them  more  formidable.  The 


374  CENTRAL   AMERICA. 

Americans,  having  none,  determined  to  seize  it. 
The  design  was  no  sooner  formed  than  Lieut.  Col. 
Sanders  gave  the  order  to  fire  on  the  Costa  Ricans, 
and,  regardless  of  danger,  he  and  his  brave  fol 
lowers  rushed  in  and  captured  this  fatal  weapon  of 
war.  They  took  it  to  the  corner  of  the  plaza,  and 
placed  it  under  the  management  of  Capt.  McArdle, 
a  ready  and  accomplished  artillerist ;  and  in  a  few 
minutes  that  engine,  which  was  destined  to  destroy 
Walker's  forces,  was  playing  fatally  over  the  enemy. 
Infuriated  to  madness,  the  Costa  Ricans  tried  to 
recover  their  gun,  but  the  Mississippi  rifles  drove 
them  back  to  concealment.  A  body  of  these  rifle 
men  now  stationed  themselves  on  a  house-top,  and 
during  the  engagement  killed,  at  least,  one  hun 
dred  of  the  enemy.  Seeing  the  American  party 
invincible,  the  Costa  Ricans,  with  three  hundred 
remaining,  retreated  towards  San  Juan  del  Sur, 
where  they  were  met  with  a  reinforcement  of  two 
hundred  and  fifty  from  Virgin  Bay.  As  soon  as 
Gen.  Walker  was  notified  of  their  approach  to  San 
Juan  del  Sur,  he  sent  a  body  of  men  to  protect  that 
part  of  the  town  in  which  the  American  rangers 
were  stationed  ;  and  after  signal  execution  on  their 
part,  the  Costa  Ricana  again  were  repulsed,  with 


CENTRAL   AMERICA.  375 

slaughter.  More  than  one  hundred  dead  bodies  of 
the  enemy  were  left  to  tell  the  story,  while  two  of 
the  noblest  of  the  democratic  party  became  victims 
in  this  action,  —  Lieut.  Morgan,  of  Gen.  Walker's 
staff,  and  Lieut.  Doyle,  of  the  army. 

This  fighting  was  excessive,  and  showed  the  de 
termined  spirit  by  which  the  Americans  were  actu 
ated.  They  fought  from  morning  to  night,  and 
when  the  enemy  ceased  hostilities  it  was  soon  dis 
covered  to  be  a  ruse  to  reinforce  themselves.  Lieut. 
Gay,  who  subsequently  died  from  excessive  exer 
tion  and  useless  exposure  to  danger,  was  the  man 
to  detect  the  trick ;  and  it  was  decided  to  rout 
the  Costa  Ricans  from  the  place  they  so  much 
coveted. 

Ten  officers,  beside  three  privates,  armed  with 
rifles  and  Colt's  revolvers,  equipped  themselves  for 
the  expedition,  and  entered  the  building  of  the  foe 
to  determine  on  a  plan  of  operation.  As  soon  as 
they  did,  they  gave  the  signal  and  fired,  and  drove 
the  enemy  to  the  fence  without  any  loss,  except  a 
single  wound  upon  one  gallant  officer,  Capt.  Breck- 
enridge.  The  opposition  was  at  least  one  hundred, 
but  these  thirteen  Americans,  with  bullets  flying 
all  over  them,  persisted,  and  accomplished  their 


376  CENTRAL  AMERICA. 

purpose  of  dislodging  the  enemy,  without  the  loss 
of  a  single  man,  killed  or  wounded. 

The  enemy  still  obstinately  attempted  to  main 
tain  their  ground,  and  in  the  continued  action 
Capt.  Hueston  was  killed.  Thirty  of  the  enemy 
now  paid  the  atoning  penalty  for  this  brave  Ameri 
can  spirit  who  had  fallen,  and  the  remaining  twelve 
carried  such  havoc  into  the  Costa  Kican  ranks  that 
they  once  more  desisted,  and  sought  safer  quarters. 

Retreating  and  assailing  continued,  until,  after  a 
loss  of  ten  more  of  their  number,  the  Costa  Ricans 
again  reached  the  old  cathedral,  from  behind  where 
they  renewed  the  assault  on  the  Americans.  Lieut. 
Gay,  who  was  in  the  first  battle  of  Rivas,  and  in 
all  the  future  engagements  of  Nicaragua,  was  now 
compelled  to  lay  down  his  life.  He  who  projected 
the  engagement  died  in  its  triumph. 

The  English  and  Germans  held  Minie'  rifles, 
which  they  used  dexterously  ;  and  it  was  by  those 
foreign  jacobins,  who  had  joined  the  despot's  party 
in  Central  America  to  put  down  liberty  and  tram 
ple  upon  human  rights,  that  most  of  our  American 
citizens  were  killed. 

The  Walker  party,  in  this  second  Rivas  engage 
ment,  was  not  one  fourth  as  great  in  number  as  the 


CENTRAL  AMERICA.       -  377 

Costa  Bicans.  Beside,  all  the  barricades  and  fort 
resses  were  with  the  enemy.  Gen.  Walker,  for 
hours,  in  this  battle,  moved  about  on  horseback,  un 
moved  and  undismayed,  reposing  confidently  upon 
the  justice  of  his  cause,  and  sustained  continually 
by  the  sublimity  of  his  victories.  The  staff  of  Gen. 
Walker  demonstrated  extraordinary  courage  and 
daring,  and,  with  the  exception  of  the  brave  Capt. 
Sutter,  they  all  died  gallantly  and  desperately  as 
serting  the  rights  of  human  freedom.  Col.  Kenew, 
also  the  volunteer  aid  of  Gen.  Walker,  was  not 
less  noted  for  his  prowess  in  arms  ;  while  the 
native  force  in  this  battle,  under  their  distinguished 
leader,  Col.  Machado,  who  fell  in  the  engagement, 
certainly  deserved  the  highest  commendation  for 
their  eminent  courage. 

This  engagement  of  the  llth  of  April,  1856,  is 
one  of  the  most  remarkable  in  the  history  of  Central 
America.  The  Costa  Ricans  had  actually  killed 
at  least  six  hundred  of  their  number ;  how  many 
wounded  and  deserted  was  never  ascertained.  Their 
quick  retreat  and  abandonment  of  Rivas  tell  the 
unfortunate  result  to  them.  And  now  look  at  the 
disparity  again.  The  Americans  came  off  with 


378  CENTRAL   AMERICA. 

fresh  laurels,  having  had  but  thirty  killed,  aad  the 
same  number  wounded. 

By  this  time  recruits  came  in  numbers  from  New 
Orleans,  New  York,  and  California,  to  reinforce 
the  Americans  by  joining  the  Nicaraguan  army, 
while  public  meetings  in  the  United  States,  and 
the  voice  of  the  press,  united  in  paeans  of  praise 
for  the  brave  deeds  of  Americans  on  foreign  soil. 
Hostilities  now  seemed  to  cease  towards  Gen. 
Walker  by  the  northern  states  of  Central  America, 
and  the  proclamation  of  President  Rivas  was  ac 
cepted  by  San  Salvador,  Honduras,  and  Guatemala,  in 
the  most  amicable  spirit.  The  enlistment  of  soldiers 
was  therefore  stopped  in  these  states,  and  the  new 
levy  ceased ;  and,  the  Rivas  government  of  Nicaragua 
being  acknowledged,  the  surrender  of  that  country 
to  Anglo-Saxon  liberty  seemed  to  have  been  made. 

There  are  those,  unquestionably,  among  us,  who 
censure  the  idea  of  American  expansion,  and  would 
squeeze  the  very  thought  from  the  minds  of  the 
people.  But,  Americans,  you  may  search  the 
records  of  history,  in  vain,  to  find  that  any  people 
were  ever  condemned  or  defamed  for  their  con 
quests.  Why  have  Caesar,  Alexander,  Charles  the 
Fifth,  Charlemagne,  and  Napoleon,  been  held  in 


CENTRAL   AMERICA.  379 

admiration  by  the  human  race  ?  Simply  because 
they  extended  their  conquests  into  foreign  territo 
ries.  And  while  American  youth  will  study  the 
histories  of  those  heroes  with  interest  and  pleasure, 
they  will  never  be  inspired  with  enthusiasm  for  the 
opposite  class  of  men.  And  this  sympathy,  in 
stinctive  with  Americans,  for  any  people  struggling 
to  be/ree,  carried  brave  men  to  the  Mexican  army, 
to  the  Russian  army  in  the  Crimea,  as  well  as  to 
Nicaragua,  when  they  beheld  their  own  countrymen, 
imbued  with  the  true  spirit  of  liberty,  and  nerved 
with  Anglo-American  energy,  unsheathing  the  sword 
upon  that  soil  to  accomplish  what  years  of  blood 
shed  might  not  otherwise  have  done  for  that  people. 
Walker  has  done  for  Nicaraguan  liberty  what  La 
fayette,  De  Kalb,  Pulaski,  Kosciusko,  had  done 
for  American  liberty,  and  for  such  considerations. 
Who,  then,  can  repress  patriotic  emotion,  or  deep 
sympathy  for  his  triumph? 

When  the  people  of  Nashville,  Tennessee,  the 
place  of  Walker's  birth,  heard  of  his  brave  deeds, 
they  met  to  testify  their  joy,  and  bore  witness  to 
the  singular  purity  of  his  character,  and  his  high 
mental  and  moral  endowments.  They  had  watched 
his  movements  with  filial  solicitude,  from  the  Che- 


380  CENTRAL  AMERICA. 

mora  and  Castellon  revolutions  to  the  battle  of 
Rivas,  which  secured  to  Nicaragua  independence  ; 
and  when  it  was  demonstrated  that  Walker  had 
covered  himself  with  glory,  there  was  no  measure 
to  their  generous  admiration. 

After  the  battle  of  Costa  Rica,  on  the  llth  of 
April,  to  which  the  friends  of  liberty  in  the  United 
States  looked  with  so  much  apprehension,  Gen. 
Walker,  without  ammunition,  remained  on  the  spot 
until  next  day,  and,  then  marched  with  music  to 
Granada  unmolested,  leaving  the  Costa  Ricans  to 
evacuate  the  town. 

And  now,  my  countrymen,  you  may  inquire 
whence  the  determined  hostility  of  the  Costa  Ricans 
to  the  government  of  Nicaragua.  It  was  the  re 
sult  of  British  instigation  to  drive  out  the  Ameri 
cans,  which  English  and  French  agents  encouraged, 
after  the  government  at  Washington  refused  to 
accept  Mr.  French.  When,  then,  the  fortunes  of 
Gen.  Walker  seemed  about  to  end,  England  made 
offers  of  thousands  of  her  arms  to  prejudice  the 
natives  against  Americans,  and,  if  possible,  to  get 
the  control  of  Central  America.  The  conduct  of 
the  President  of  Costa  Rica  was  unparalleled,  in 
denying  Americans  the  right  to  engage  in  foreign 


CENTRAL  AMERICA.  381 

service,  and  ordering  them  when  taken  prisoners 
in  all  cases  to  be  shot.  The  attempt,  then,  of  Costa 
Rica  to  control  and  prescribe  the  action  of  Ameri 
cans,  was  enough  to  call  upon  every  citizen  of  the 
land  to  bid  our  people  "  God  speed  "  in  Nicaragua 


CHAPTER    IV. 

Is  it  nothing,  Americans,  to  see  a  son  of  this 
soil  opening  two  hundred  and  fifty  thousand  acres 
of  land  to  the  agricultural  pursuits  and  industry  of 
freemen  who  may  choose  to  go  there  and  occupy  it  ? 
Is  it  nothing  to  see  two  millions  of  people  being 
regenerated  from  papal  ignorance  and  degradation  ? 
Is  it  nothing  to  see  this  portion  of  the  Western 
world  affording  its  facilities  for  commerce,  by  bring 
ing  together  the  extremes  of  trade,  which  will 
benefit  mankind  ? 

When  we  consider  that  British  power  nerved  the 
Costa  Ricans  with  twenty-five  hundred  fighting 
men,  to  punish  Americans  for  bringing  Nicaragua 
to  the  desire  for  independence,  and  that  France  and 
Spain  aided  the  effort,  what  American  would  hesi 
tate  to  give  every  proper  encouragement  to  Walker? 
From  the  moment  we  acquired  California,  too,  the 
isthmuses  of  Nicaragua  and  Panama  have  been 
important  to  us. 


CENTRAL   AMERICA.  383 

In  1811,  Congress  declared  the  Territory  of 
Florida  to  be  necessary  to  the  United  States,  and 
passed  a  resolution  to  keep  it  out  of  the  hands  of 
foreign  powers.  On  the  15th  of  January,  the  same 
day  the  President  approved  the  act,  Congress 
authorized  Mr.  Madison  to  take  possession  of  that 
territory,  and,  if  required,  to  use  the  army  and  navy 
of  the  country  to  defend  it ;  and  such  civil  and  judi 
cial  power  was  given  as  would  protect  Americans 
in  all  their  rights  of  person,  property,  and  religion. 

My  countrymen,  no  effort  was  withheld  by  Eng 
land  to  deprive  this  Union  of  Texas ;  and,  to  pre 
vent  the  acquisition  of  California,  which  she  wanted 
to  colonize,  her  squadron  followed  ours  with  a  vigi 
lant  eye.  When,  then,  she  saw  Nicaragua  almost 
in  American  arms,  she  set  about  aiding  the  Costa 
Bicans  to  put  Americans  down.  Can  we  ever 
forget  how  England  treated  our  fathers  in  their 
colonial  independence  ?  And  yet,  what  has  added 
so  much  to  her  greatness  as  our  nationality  ?  Had 
we  never  possessed  California,  England  could  never 
have  penetrated  the  gold  mines  of  Australia. 
What  right,  then,  had  she  to  interfere,  because  an 
American  hero  appeared  by  invitation  in  Nicaragua, 
t )  fix  a  higher  glory  upon  his  own  glorious  institu- 


384  CENTRAL   AMERICA. 

tions,  which  open  the  main  chance  alike  to  all  the 
sons  of  the  soil  ? 

It  was  England's  interference  that  dissolved  the 
union  of  the  Central  American  states  in  1838,  just 
as  she  is  now  attempting  to  separate  these  United 
States  to-day  by  intrigue  and  treachery  on  the 
question  of  slavery,  about  which  she  cares  nothing, 
but  to  use  as  an  instrument  of  discord  to  destroy 
our  beautiful  system  of  government.  England 
bound  herself  by  treaty  to  abandon  Central  America ; 
and  yet,  in  the  face  of  her  solemn  engagement, 
she  has  maintained  ascendency  over  the  Mosquito 
territory,  held  on  to  the  Bay  Islands,  and  en 
croached  on  Honduras  ;  and,  two  years  after  the 
Clayton  and  Bulwer  treaty  was  ratified,  we  find 
the  queen  issuing  a  warrant  to  erect  these  islands 
into  a  British  colony ! 

Now,  Americans,  do  you  not  consider  it  right  to 
extend  the  protection  of  your  laws  to  a  people  who 
invite  you  to  take  up  their  cause  ?  Do  you  not,  in 
the  self-relying,  self-denying  spirit  of  your  ances 
tors,  wish  to  see  the  principles  of •  self-government, 
upon  which  they  planted  this  confederacy,  made 
impregnable  to  tyrants  in  other  lands  ?  In  this 
sense,  e^ery  American  is  a  pillar  to  support  the 


CENTRAL   AMERICA.  385 

edifice  of  freedom,  and  to  prepare  this  people  for 
the  perpetuity  of  Protestant  liberty.  Look  at  the 
length  and  breadth  of  our  country,  beginning  with 
a  slip  upon  the  Atlantic,  and  moving  on  until  it 
has  met  the  roar  of  the  Pacific.  We  have  Mexico, 
nearly  equal  to  our  original  dimensions.  We  have 
secured  the  territory  of  the  West.  And  when  we 
see  what  American  energy  and  American  princi 
ples  have  already  done  in  Central  America,  and 
consider  how  our  own  territory  is  to  be  defended, 
we  have  no  reason  to  doubt  that  our  stars  and 
stripes  will  yet  float  over  the  Pacific  gate  of  the 
Nicaragua  transit ;  because  we  cannot  believe 
that  Americans,  now,  will  ever  allow  the  key  of 
the  Gulf  of  Mexico  to  fall  into  the  hands  of 
savages.  They  will  not  consent  that  the  Central 
American  states,  essential  to  the  commerce  of  the 
United  States,  shall  ever  be  owned  by  their  enemies. 
They  will  not  allow  any  foreign  power  to  arm 
Spanish  colonists  to  murder  their  kinsmen  ;  which 
has  been  the  work  of  European  despotisms,  who 
hate  our  interests,  and  tremble  at  the  consequences 
of  seeing  Central  America  yield  to  Anglo-American 
intelligence,  liberty,  and  laws.  And,  sooner  than 
witness  the  unprovoked  assault  our  people  have 
17 


386  CENTRAL  AMERICA. 

sustained  at  Nicaragua  and  Panama,  it  would  be 
better  far  to  repeal  the  neutrality  laws,  and  let 
Americans  defend  their  own  personal  rights. 

Gen.  Walker  intercepted  the  letters  intended 
for  the  Consul  General  of  Costa  Rica  in  London, 
proving  that  England  furnished  arms  to  the  ene 
mies  of  Americans.  Beside,  the  whole  British 
West  India  squadron  went  to  the  San  Juan  del 
Norte  to  testify  that  government's  sympathy,  and 
is  there  still,  because  Americans  struck  down  the 
foe  in  Nicaragua,  and  defended  the  people  who 
were  panting  for  freedom.  The  route  to  California 
was  also  endangered  by  the  English  squadron  at 
the  mouth  of  the  river. 

Now,  my  countrymen,  mark  the  Jesuit  trick ! 
These  bloody  Costa  Ricans  never  declared  war  at 
all  against  Nicaragua,  but  against  the  Americans 
in  that  state,  thereby  denying  them  the  power  to 
defend  the  rights  of  human  freedom.  Ameri 
cans,  then,  were  shot  when  taken,  their  houses 
burned,  their  bodies  consumed  to  ashes  ;  and  still, 
as  citizens  of  the  United  States,  claiming  protection 
from  no  other  government.  Think  jou  that  our 
Washington,  could  he  rise  from  the  deep  slumber 


CENTRAL  AMERICA.  387 

of  the  grave,  would  refuse  his  sympathy  to  the 
heroic  Walker  and  his  adherents  ?  Read  his  words  ! 

On  the  1st  day  of  January,  1796,  in  reply  to  the 
minister  of  the  French  Republic,  on  the  latter 
presenting  the  colors  of  France  to  the  United 
States,  George  Washington  pronounced  these  noble 
words:  "Born,  sir,  in  a  land  of  liberty;  having 
early  learned  its  value ;  having  engaged  in  a 
perilous  conflict  to  defend  it ;  having,  in  a  word, 
devoted  the  best  years  of  my  life  to  secure  its 
permanent  establishment  in  my  own  country,  —  my 
anxious  recollections,  my  sympathetic  feelings,  and 
my  best  wishes,  are  irresistibly  excited,  when 
soever,  in  any  country,  I  see  an  oppressed  nation 
unfurl  the  banners  of  freedom." 

Had  Gen.  Walker  taken  possession  of  Nicaragua 
merely  to  keep  the  peace,  he  would  have  been 
justified  by  the  precedent  and  practice  of  other 
nations.  At  least  three  countries  in  Europe  are 
now  occupied  by  the  foreign  troops  of  England, 
France,  and  Austria.  Nothing  could  exceed  the 
enthusiasm  of  the  people,  as  the  stars  and  stripes 
were  raised  at  the  American  legation  ;  and  all  the 
subsequent  acts  of  Gen.  Walker,  after  the  estab 
lishment  of  the  Rivas  government,  and  the  acknowl- 


388  CENTRAL   AMERICA. 

edgment  by  the  natives  that  he  was  their  deliv 
erer,  confirms  the  prophecy  of  Padre  Vijil,  a  few 
days  before  Walker  entered  Granada,  when  he 
said,  "  Our  only  hope  now  is  in  Heaven  and  Gen. 
Walker/' 

Walker  has  been  censured  for  the  execution  of 
Corral,  most  unjustly.  Did  not  Corral  himself 
select  the  Americans  to  try  him,  having  no  faith  iii 
his  own  countrymen  ?  And  the  two  most  intimate 
associates  of  Corral,  who  attended  him  to  execu 
tion,  are  now  the  warmest  friends  of  Walker. 

When  the  presidential  election  again  came 
around,  the  candidates  all  sympathized  with  demo 
cratic  freedom ;  but  Walker  was  called,  in  prefer 
ence  to  all  others,  to  the  presidency  ;  and,  from  the 
day  of  his  inauguration,  Nicaragua  acquired  a 
position,  from  which,  we  believe,  she  will  never 
willingly  recede.  After  the  defection  of  Rivas, 
who,  it  is  remembered,  absconded  with  his  cabinet 
on  the  21st  of  June,  Gen.  Walker,  in  virtue  of  the 
authority  placed  in  him  by  the  treaty,  appointed 
Fermin  Ferrer  president  pro  temp  ore  ;  and  he, 
Rivas,  and  Salizar,  all  were  candidates  for  the  suf 
frages  of  the  people,  as  well  as  Walker.  But,  while 
Walker  was  elected  by  nearly  sixteen  thousand 


CENTRAL   AMERICA.  389 

votes,  the  aggregate  vote  of  the  other  three  did 
not  much  exceed  seven  thousand. 

This  election  occurred  the  10th  of  last  July ; 
and,  on  the  12th,  Walker  took  the  oath  of  office. 
The  ceremonies  were  very  imposing.  The  Ameri 
can  flag  and  those  of  Nicaragua  and  France  were 
in  front  of  the  stage,  an  open  Bible  and  crucifix 
placed  on  it,  and  a  cushion  laid  upon  the  floor,  on 
which  President  Walker  knelt  reverently,  and  took 
the  oath  of  office.  On  the  platform  sat  the  pro 
visional  President,  Ferrer,  the  bishop,  Col.  Wheeler, 
and  some  of  the  field  officers  and  their  staffs.  An 
appropriate  valedictory  was  delivered  to  the  people 
by  President  Ferrer,  and  an  inaugural  by  President 
Walker  which  would  have  honored  any  President 
of  our  own  country,  divested,  as  it  was,  of  all  use 
less  verbiage,  all  specious  professions,  but  carrying 
an  intuitive  conviction  into  the  minds  of  the  people 
that  they  had  at  last  found  a  man  in  whose  integ 
rity  and  honor  they  could  confide. 

The  assembly  then  proceeded  to  the  church, 
according  to  their  old  custom,  where  the  Te  Deum 
was  performed,  with  the  usual  ceremony  of  blessing 
the  President,  to  which  Walker  submitted.  Some 
may  say,  "Why  did  he  do  this,  being  a  genuine 


390  CENTRAL   AMERICA. 

Protestant?"  We  answer,  because  reason  and  the 
Word  of  God  justified  the  necessity  of  temporarily 
tolerating  useless  rites,  which  ignorance  and  papal 
prejudice  had  fastened  upon  the  people.  In  this 
way  he  might  hope  to  enlist  their  good-will,  and 
gradually  develop  the  benign  influences  of  light 
and  liberty,  and  prepare  that  down-trodden  race  to 
discard  the  infatuation  of  Jesuit  priests,  and  the 
consequent  degradation  to  which  they  are  subjected. 
And  until  the  population  of  Central  America,  or 
anywhere  else,  shall  have  become  Americanized  by 
Protestant  faith,  they  are  unfitted  to  tread  the 
American  soil  as  citizens ;  and  we  earnestly  dep 
recate  the  idea  of  the  annexation  to  our  own  terri 
tory  of  a  race  of  savage  idolaters,  as  the  greatest 
national  calamity  that  could  befall  us. 

In  all  subsequent  difficulties  by  which  the  safety 
of  the  government  of  Nicaragua  and  President 
Walker  has  been  perilled,  the  same  determined 
courage  has  signalized  the  man.  He  executed 
Salizar  when  he  was  proved  a  traitor,  and  issued 
an  exequator  to  the  British  consul  when  he  detect 
ed  his  complicity.  The  want  of  resources,  and  the 
consequent  desertion  of  American  troops,  have  at 
times  since  looked  fatal  to  republican  hopes  ;  but, 
whatever  may  be  the  result,  it  is  glorious  to  recount 


CENTRAL   AMERICA.  391 

the  brave  deeds  of  Americans  upon  that  foreign  soil ; 
and  it  will  ever  invest  it  with  interest,  to  know  that 
it  is  enriched  by  the  blood  of  American  martyrs, 
which,  ultimately,  must  germinate  the  eternal  prin 
ciples  of  truth  and  freedom. 

And,  while  we  are  astonished  at  the  unequalled 
valor  of  our  brave  men  in  a  foreign  land,  we  find 
in  their  gallant  and  patriotic  doings  fresh  evidences 
of  the  spirit  with  which  they  would  meet  the  enemy 
on  their  own  soil,  if  called  to  defend  the  national 
honor  of  their  country,  her  rights,  her  altars,  her 
homes,  and  her  liberties. 

We  deprecate  war,  and  believe  it  is  opposed  to 
the  benevolent  principles  of  Christianity,  and  we 
trust  no  occasion  shall  ever  arise  to  plunge  us  into 
its  cruelties  ;  but,  if  this  inevitable  necessity  should 
come,  it  is  a  blessing  to  feel  that  we  are  armed  with 
brave  defenders,  millions  of  freemen,  ready  to  repel 
the  invader,  and  triumph  mightily  over  the  foe.  Cen 
tral  America  is  yet  in  the  mists  of  papal  ignorance 
and  delusion,  through  the  influence  and  tyranny  of 
a  heartless,  domineering  priesthood,  which  must 
first  be  put  down,  and  their  power  annihilated, 
before  any  free  government  can  hope  for  permanent 
endurance,  and  the  true  sun  of  liberty  rise  to  bless 
and  gild  the  horizon  of  her  hopes. 


THE  ROMISH  SYSTEM  A  POLITICAL 
CORPORATION, 


CHAPTER    I. 

BY  the  Declaration  of  our  Independence  there  are 
certain  imprescriptible  rights,  derived  from  God, 
and  of  which  man  cannot  be  deprived  by  a  ma 
jority,  or  have  weakened  by  any  conditions  imposed 
by  society.  These  are  rights  everywhere.  They 
are  necessary  elements  of  free  agency,  and  without 
them  God  is  not  worshipped  at  all.  God  has  given 
to  man  the  Bible,  and  the  possession  and  use  of 
this  are  man's  inalienable  privileges.  The  Romish 
church  has,  in  its  general  councils,  restrained  the 
printing,  translation,  and  circulation,  of  the  Bible  ; 
and,  by  this  restriction,  has  invaded  the  natural 
and  indefeasible  rights  of  man. 

The  American  constitution,  which  guarantees 
these  religious  principles,  and  the  state  constitu- 


ROMANISM   A   POLITICAL    CORPORATION.         393 

tions  formed  since  its  adoption,  have  reaffirmed  this 
safeguard  in  these  words  :  "  All  men  have  a  natu 
ral  and  indefeasible  right  to  worship  God  according 
to  the  dictates  of  their  own  consciences."  "No 
man  can,  of  right,  be  compelled  to  attend,  erect, 
or  support,  any  place  of  worship,  or  to  maintain  any 
ministry,  against  his  consent ;  no  human  authority 
can,  in  any  case  whatever,  control  or  interfere  with 
the  rights  of  conscience  ;  and  no  preference  shall  be 
given  by  law  to  any  religious  establishment  or  mode 
of  worship."  This  is  the  constitutional  definition 
of  religious  liberty. 

The  constitution,  then,  is  republican,  and,  by 
these  prescriptions,  Protestant ;  and  hence  the  lib 
erty,  the  intelligence,  and  the  unequalled  blessings, 
of  the  people  of  the  United  States,  over  the  down 
trodden,  priest-ridden  populations  of  the  Roman 
Catholic  countries  of  Europe,  and  of  South  America 
and  Mexico.  Romanism  is  an  arbitrary  and  Irre 
sistible  power  over  its  subjects ;  and  the  man  or 
woman  who  becomes  its  voluntary  devotee  renounces 
the  most  precious  rights  of  freedom,  and  cannot  be 
otherwise  than  mentally  debased.  So,  whoever  thus 
surrenders  these  constitutional  rights  into  the  hands 
of  the  priest  cannot  be  a  good  American  citizen, 
17* 

X*    . 


394         ROMANISM   A   POLITICAL    CORPORATION. 

nor  free  in  any  true  sense.  The  "  indelible  brand 
of  slavery ' '  is  put  upon  every  child  who  is  born 
under  the  dominion  of  the  Romish  church,  by  its 
sacrament  of  baptism.  And  the  fourteenth  canon 
on  baptism  is  thus  :  "  Whoever  shall  affirm  that, 
when  these  baptized  children  grow  up,  they  are  to 
be  asked  whether  they  will  confirm  the  promises 
made  by  their  god-fathers  in  their  name,  at  their 
baptism  ;  and  that  if  they  say  they  will  not,  they 
,ire  to  be  left  to  their  own  choice,  and  not  to  be 
compelled  in  the  mean  time  to  lead  a  Christian  life 
by  any  other  punishment  than  exclusion  from  the 
eucharist  and  other  sacraments,  until  they  repent, 
— let  him  be  accursed." 

It  is  by  force,  then,  not  by  moral  means,  that 
this  obedience  is  enjoined  ;  and  the  promises  made 
by  the  godfathers  are  to  be  obeyed,  or  the  subject 
is  to  be  forever  "  excluded  from  the  eucharist  and 
othe'r  sacraments."  It  is  made  not  only  the  seal 
of  bondage,  but  also  the  seal  of  salvation.  And 
nurses  and  physicians,  and  the  laity  at  large,  are 
authorized  to  administer  baptism  to  the  dying  infant, 
while  the  priest,  in  order  to  enforce  these  shocking 
popish  rites,  often  leaves  the  mother  suspended  be 
tween  life  and  death,  to  save  her  babe  from  the  fate 


ROMANISM  A   POLITICAL    CORPORATION.        395 

of  a  heretic  !  This  is  the  first  delusion  practised 
upon  an  individual,  as  it  is  also  the  death-blow  to 
the  first  principles  of  liberty. 

The  next  device  to  destroy  the  liberty  of  the 
individual  and  of  nations  is  auricular  confession. 
This  papal  injunction  is  so  called  because  the  priest 
alone,  without  any  authority  from  heaven  or  natu 
ral  right,  puts  forth  a  claim  to  know  all  the  secrets 
of  all  the  people.  This  is  the  most  dangerous  feat 
ure  of  the  Romish  church  to  the  liberties  of  our 
country,  and  plainly  proves  it  to  be  a  mere  political 
corporation  to  advance  its  power.  This  invasion  of 
the  primordial  rights  of  man,  and  his  responsibility 
to  God  only,  is  an  alarming  violation  of  human 
agency,  as  a  free  citizen,and  the  safety  of  the  states. 
It  is  putting  the  people  and  their  rulers  under  the 
priesthood.  This  confers  an  omnipresent  espionage, 
by  which  the  Pope  of  Rome  can  gain  the  secrets 
and  control  the  votes  of  every  Papist  elector,  and 
becomes  a  priestly  political  power  over  the  millions 
of  his  subjects  in  all  parts  of  the  United  States. 
This  secret  power  of  the  confessional  has  enabled 
the  priesthood,  wherever  it  has  prevailed,  to  extort 
legacies  from  wealthy  individuals,  to  dictate  wills, 
to  subsidize  the  wealth  of  provinces,  as  well  as  to 


396        ROMANISM  A   POLITICAL   CORPORATION. 

govern  magistrates  and  monarchs  ;  and  is  the  means 
by  which  that  ambitious  hierarchy  has  always  ruled 
the  countries  and  states  in  which  it  got  a  foothold. 
The  dogmas  for  self-examination  in  the  Book  of 
Devotion,  by  the  authority  of  the  Roman  Catholic 
priesthood  in  the  United  States,  and  in  use  all  over 
our  land,  are  enough  to  destroy  all  kinds  of  liberty 
God  ever  gave  to  the  mind  of  man. 

The  power  of  the  confessional,  too,  over  morals, 
is  incredible  and  astounding.  The  "  Christian's 
Guide  to  Heaven,"  issued  under  the  sanction  of 
Archbishop  Kendrick,  of  Baltimore,  is  so  vile,  so 
shocking  an  outrage  upon  decency  and  morals,  that 
none  other  than  a  Romish  Jesuit  could  conceive  it ; 
and  even  the  men  who  print  and  circulate  it  have 
desired  its  suppression.  This  book  says  :  "If  you 
have  anything  upon  your  conscience  which  you  have 
a  particular  difficulty  in  confessing,  cease  not,  with 
prayers  and  tears,  to  importune  your  heavenly  Father 
to  assist  you  in  this  regard,  until  He  gives  you  grace 
to  overcome  the  difficulty.  Let  your  confession  be 
entire  as  to  the  number  of  your  sins,  and  such  circum 
stances  as  quite  change  the  nature  of  your  sins,  or 
notoriously  aggravate  them."  The  fifth  chapter  of 
the  Council  of  Trent,  on  Confession,  commands  the 


ROMANISM   A   POLITICAL   CORPORATION.        397 

most  secret  kind  of  "  mortal  sins  "  to  be  confessed, 
as  indispensable  to  forgiveness.  Can  Americans 
need  more  than  this  to  open  their  eyes,  and  see  the 
ruin  of  the  heart,  the  ruin  of  conscience,  the  ruin 
of  female  virtue  and  modesty ;  the  ruin  of  the 
sanctity  of  the  family,  by  invading  its  privacies,  and 
creating,  whenever  it  pleases,  discords ;  the  ruin 
of  liberty,  and  the  subjugation  and  final  ruin  of  the 
country  ?  Hence  we  see  how  that  hierarchy  has 
jesuitically  contrived  to  pry  into  the  secrets  of  the 
people,  to  know  their  thoughts,  feelings,  acts,  inten 
tions,  and  desires. 

One  question,  among  others  in  their  odious  books 
asks  a  woman  if  she  loves  any  of  the  priests.  Ho\\ 
does  she  answer  her  good  confessor  ?  Tell  Ameri 
cans,  ye  holy  fathers !  In  the  fourteenth  session 
of  the  Council  of  Trent,  it  is  written  in  the  decree 
of  penance  thus :  "  It  is  plain  the  priest  cannot 
sustain  the  office  of  judge  if  the  cause  be  unknown 
to  them,  nor  inflict  equitable  punishments  if  the  sins 
are  only  confessed  in  general,  and  not  minutely  and 
individually  described.  Those  who  do  otherwise, 
and  knowingly  conceal  any  sins,  present  nothing  to 
the  divine  goodness  to  be  forgiven  by  the  priest." 
Again,  the  sixth  canon  is  as  follows:  "Whoever 


398        ROMANISM   A   POLITICAL    CORPORATION. 

shall  deny  the  sacramental  confession  was  instituted 
by  the  divine  command,  or  that  it  is  necessary  to 
salvation  ;  or  shall  affirm  that  the  practice  of  con 
fessing  to  the  priest  alone,  as  it  has  ever  been 
observed  from  the  beginning  of  the  Catholic 
Church,  and  is  still  observed,  is  foreign  to  the 
institution  and  command  of  Christ,  and  is  a  human 
invention,  — let  him  be  accursed." 

Now,  Americans,  what  is  this  but  putting  the 
priest,  as  judge,  in  God's  place  ?  It  is  forcing  a 
man  or  woman  to  unveil  the  inmost  secrets  to  a 
mere  creature,  which  act  of  confession  belongs  and 
is  due  to  God  alone.  Here,  in  our  beloved  country, 
there  are  upwards  of  two  thousand  priestly  confess 
ors  to-day,  into  whose  ears  are  poured  the  entire 
secrets  of  the  wife,  and  sister,  and  daughter,  who 
have  breathed,  not  only  their  words  and  actions, 
but  the  very  thoughts,  feelings,  and  desires,  when 
alone,  to  the  celibate  confessor !  ! !  Blush,  hus 
bands,  brothers  !  Be  amazed  at  this  extorted  con 
fession  and  intrusion  into  your  family  privacies  and 
secrets,  under  the  garb  of  religion,  and  which  not 
even  a  Gabriel,  much  less  mortal  authority,  has  a 
right  to  assume  or  exercise  !  Do  we  wonder,  are 
we  startled,  at  the  depth  of  depravity  which  flows 


ROMANISM   A   POLITICAL   CORPORATION.         399 

like  a  polluted  stream  out  of  the  confessional  ? 
Here,  too,  into  the  ear  of  this  same  confessor,  are 
poured  the  secrets  of  all  the  villains  connected  with 
that  church,  who  have  incited  mobs,  stolen  their 
neighbors'  goods,  oppressed  the  poor,  cheated  and 
lied  at  the  ballot-box ;  and  then  to  return,  the 
very  next  day,  to  act  over  again  the  same  guilty 
practices,  because,  the  priest  having  given  absolu 
tion,  the  white-washed  culprits  can  take  a  fresh 
start  on  the  march  to  crime,  until  the  "bag  of 
sins  "  is  filled  again,  for  the  priest  in  the  confes 
sional  to  cast  into  the  reservoir  of  oblivion,  and, 
by  absolution,  give  another  new  start.  And  so,  in 
alternate  repetition,  the  confessional,  by  the  united 
action  of  the  priest  and  the  guilty  culprit,  aids  the 
police,  multiplies  subjects  in  courts  of  justice,  the 
penitentiary,  and  prisons,  and,  like  Othello,  does 
the  state  some  service. 

In  all  the  devices  of  human  ingenuity,  none  has 
ever  been  found  so  effective,  on  this  earth,  to  ad 
vance  the  crafty  schemes  of  a  potentate,  and  to 
entrap  and  fasten  the  will,  and  control  the  interests, 
temporal  and  spiritual,  of  mankind,  as  this  master 
piece  of  Satan,  the  invention  of  the  confessional. 


400        ROMANISM  A   POLITICAL   CORPORATION. 

But,  however  dangerous  the  confessional  is,  it  is 
only  one  part  of  the  machinery  employed  by  the 
political  corporation  of  Rome  in  effecting  its  designs 
to  bring  the  world  to  its  feet. 


CHAPTER    II. 

THE  suppression  of  the  freedom  of  the  press  is 
another.  When,  in  1460,  the  art  of  printing, 
through  the  genius  of  Faust,  was  invented,  it  was 
like  an  angel  of  light  suddenly  bursting  through 
the  mists  of  darkness  which  had  so  long  covered 
the  earth.  The  first  fruit  of  this  sublime  invention 
was  the  printing  of  the  Bible.  This  immediately 
awakened  the  alarm  of  the  papal  hierarchy  ;  for  it 
was  a  sign  of  a  successful  invasion  upon  the  fort 
ress  of  imposture,  more  mighty  and  portentous 
than  the  attack  of  all  the  irresistible  hordes  of 
Attila  upon  the  city  of  Rome.  A  struggle  at  once 
commenced  with  this  light  of  genius  and  liberty 
against  despotism  ;  and,  from  that  time  to  the 
present,  the  apocalyptical  despot,  in  league  with 
the  other  despots  of  Europe,  has  shown  his  deter 
mined  antipathy  to  the  freedom  of  the  press. 

Milton   represents   Satan   in  his  passage   over 


402         ROMANISM   A   POLITICAL    CORPORATION. 

chaos,  looking  toward  paradise,  and  spying  the  sun 
in  his  "  meridian  tower,"  and  makes  him  exclaim, 

• 

"  To  thee, 

O  sun  !  but  with  no  friendly  voice,  I  call, 
To  tell  thee  how  I  hate  thy  beams." 

With  the  same  instinctive  aversion  and  irrecon 
cilable  hatred,  this  hierarch  of  Rome  exclaims 
against  the  press  ;  and  whenever  he  has  occasion, 
and  revolutionary  symptoms  appear,  he  thunders 
from  the  Vatican  his  bulls.  In  this  act,  he  only 
imitates  his  inexorable  predecessors,  and  carries 
out  the  decrees  of  Romish  councils. 

We  will  here  present  the  canons  upon  which  the 
decrees  against  the  press  are  based. 

The  great  Council  of  Lateran,  held  at  Rome 
A.  D.  1515,  under  Leo  X.,  session  tenth,  enacted 
thus  :  "  We  ordain  and  decree  that  no  person  shall 
presume  to  print,  or  cause  to  be  printed,  any  book  or 
other  writing  whatsoever,  either  in  our  city  [Rome] 
or  in  any  other  city,  unless  it  shall  first  have  been 
carefully  examined,  if  in  this  city,  by  our  vicar 
and  the  masters  of  the  holy  palace,  or,  if  in  other 
cities  and  dioceses,  by  the  bishop  or  his  deputy, 
with  the  inquisitor  of  heretical  pravity  for  the  dio- 


ROMANISM   A   POLITICAL   CORPORATION.         403 

cese  in  which  the  impression  is  about  to  be  made  ; 
and  unless,  also,  it  shall  have  received,  under 
our  hands,  their  written  approval,  given  without 
price  and  without  delay.  Whosoever  shall  ever 
presume  to  do  otherwise,  beside  the  loss  of  the 
books,  which  shall  be  publicly  burned,  shall  be 
bound  by  the  sentence  of  excommunication/' 
And,  in  another  part  of  this  decree,  they  further 
say,  "that  the  transgressing  printer  was  to  pay 
two  hundred  ducats,  to  help  to  build  St.  Peter's 
Cathedral  at  Rome,"  and  "to  be  suspended  for  a 
year  from  his  trade,"  &o. 

The  Council  of  Trent  affirmed  this  decretal,  and 
enacted,  Rule  1st:  "All  books  condemned  by  the 
supreme  pontiffs  or  general  councils  before  the 
year  1515,  and  not  comprised  in  the  present  index, 
are  nevertheless  to  be  considered  as  condemned." 
The  creed ',  as  adopted  by  every  Roman  Catholic, 
requires  all  "  to  receive  undoubtedly  all  things 
delivered,  defined,  and  declared,  by  the  sacred 
canons  and  general  councils,  and  particularly  by 
the  holy  Council  of  Trent." 

Here,  then,  is  the  destruction  of  all  liberty  to 
print,  read,  or  think,  enforced  and  sealed  by  that 
council.  "  Concerning  the  index  of  books,  the 


404         ROMANISM   A   POLITICAL    CORPORATION. 

most  holy  council,  in  its  second  session,  under  our 
most  holy  lord,  Pius  IV.,  intrusted  it  to  certain 
select  fathers  to  consider  what  was  needful  to  be 
done  in  case  of  divers  censures,  and  books  either 
suspected  or  pernicious,  and  then  report  to  the  holy 
council ;  and,  having  heard  now  that  their  labors 
are  completed,  but  yet  seeing,  on  account  of  the 
variety  and  number  of  said  books,  the  council  can 
not  minutely  judge  in  the  case,  therefore  it  is 
decreed  that  whatever  is  determined  by  them  shall 
be  laid  before  the  most  holy  Pope  of  Rome,  so  that 
it  may  be  completed  and  published  according  to 
his  judgment  and  authority." 

This  is  the  authority  or  decree  in  council  to 
sanction  the  act  of  the  Pope  and  the  committee. 
So  the  "  committee  on  the  index  "  went  to  work 
to  draw  up  a  list  of  "  prohibited  books."  It  is  a 
very  large  volume,  and  the  book  can  be  had  but  in 
few  of  the  libraries  of  America.  In  this  book,  ten 
"rules"  are  added,  which  the  Pope  approved  and 
the  church  receives.  Every  succeeding  Pope,  to 
Pius  IX.,  has  ratified  it.  The  second  of  these 
rules  will  show  something  of  this  tyranny  :  "  The 
books  of  heresiarchs,  whether  year  above  men 
tioned,  or  those  who  have  been  or  are  heads  or 


ROMANISM   A   POLITICAL   CORPORATION.        405 

• 

leaders  of  heretics,  as  Luther,  Zwingle,  Calvin, 
Balthaser,  Pacimontanus,  Luenchfeld,  and  other 
similar  ones,  are  altogether  forbidden,  whatever  be 
their  names,  titles,  or  subjects." 

The  fourth  rule  is  this  :  "Inasmuch  as  it  is 
manifest  from  experience  that,  if  the  Holy  Bible, 
translated  in  the  vulgar  tongue,  be  indiscriminately 
allowed  to  every  one,  the  temerity  of  men  will 
cause  more  evil  than  good  to  arise  from  it,  it  is  on 
this  point  referred  to  the  judgment  of  bishops  and 
inquisitors,  who  may,  by  the  advice  of  the  priest 
or  confessor,  permit  the  reading  of  the  Bible  in  the 
vulgar  tongue,  by  Catholic  authors,  to  those  whose 
faith  and  piety  they  apprehend  will  be  augmented, 
not  injured,  by  it ;  and  this  permission  they  must 
have  in  writing ;  but,  if  any  one  shall  have  the 
presumption  to  read  or  possess  it  without  such 
written  permission,  he  shall  not  receive  absolution 
until  he  have  first  delivered  up  such  Bible  to  the 
ordinary.  Booksellers,  however,  who  shall  sell  or 
otherwise  dispose  of  Bibles  in  the  vulgar  tongue, 
or  any  person  not  having  such  permission,  shall 
forfeit  the  value  of  the  books,  to  be  applied  by  the 
bishop  to  some  pious  use,  and  be  subjected  by 
the  bishop  to  such  other  penalties  as  the  bishop 


406        ROMANISM   A   POLITICAL    CORPORATION. 

• 

shall  judge  proper,  according  to  the  quality  of  the 
offence.  But  regulars  shall  never  read  nor  pur 
chase  such  Bibles  without  license  from  their  supe 
riors." 

The  fifth  rule  allows  "  books  of  heretics,  contain 
ing  but  little  of  their  own,  to  be  used  by  Catholics, 
after  having  been  corrected  by  their  divines." 

The  sixth  rule  says :  "  Books  of  controversy  be 
tween  'Catholics  and  heretics  of  the  present  time, 
written  in  the  vulgar  tongue,  are  not  to  be  indiscrim 
inately  allowed,  but  are  to  be  subject  to  the  same 
regulations  as  the  Bible  in  the  vulgar  tongue." 

The  tenth  rule  is  thus :  "  In  the  printing  of 
books,  or  rather  the  writings,  the  rules  shall  be 
observed  which  were  ordained  in  the  tenth  session 
of  the  Council  of  Lateran,  under  Leo  X.  There 
fore,  if  any  book  is  to  be  printed  in  the  city  of 
Rome,  it  shall  be  first  examined  by  the  Pope's 
vicar,  and  the  master  of  the  sacred  palace,  or 
other  persons  chosen  by  our  most  holy  father  for 
that  purpose.  In  other  places,  any  book  or  manu 
script  intended  to  be  printed  shall  be  referred  to 
the  bishop,  or  some  skilful  person  whom  he  shall 
nominate,  and  the  inquisitors  of  heretical  pravity 


ROMANISM   A   POLITICAL   CORPORATION.         407 

of  the  city  or  diocese  in  which  the-  impression  is 
executed." 

"  Moreover,  in  every  city  and  diocese,  the  house 
or  place  where  the  art  of  printing  is  exercised,  and 
also  shops  of  booksellers,  shall  be  frequently  visited 
by  persons  deputed  by  the  bishop  or  his  vicar,  con 
jointly  with  the  inquisitors,  so  that  nothing  that  is 
prohibited  may  be  kept  or  sold." 

"  If  any  persons  shall  import  foreign  books  into 
the  city,  they  shall  be  obliged  to  renounce  them  to 
the  deputies.  Heirs,  or  executors,  shall  make  no 
use  of  the  books  of  the  deceased,  nor  in  any 
way  transfer  them  to  others,  until  a  catalogue 
is  presented  to  the  deputies,  and  obtained  their 
license,  under  pain  of  confiscation  of  the  books." 

"  Finally,  it  is  enjoined  on  all  the  faithful,  that 
no  one  keep  or  pretend  to  read  any  books  contrary 
to  these  rules,  or  the  prohibited  index."  "But,  if 
any  one  shall  keep  or  read  the  works  of  a  heretic, 
he  shall  instantly  incur  the  sentence  of  excommuni 
cation,  and  those  who  keep  works  interdicted  on 
another  account,  beside  the  mortal  sin  committed, 
shall  be  severely  punished  at  the  will  of  the 
bishops." 

Thus  are  the  consciences,  the  intellects,  tram- 


408         ROMANISM   A   POLITICAL   CORPORATION. 

melled,  and  the  access  to  knowledge  shut  out  from 
the  sight  of  Americans,  who  are  subjects  of  the 
Romish  church.  Think  of  this,  0,  my  country 
men,  think,  and  protect  your  schools  for  the  educa 
tion  of  your  children ! 

What  says  the  decree  of  the  Holy  Council  of 
Trent,  on  the  mere  edition  of  God's  Holy  Word  ? 
Why,  plainly  this  :  "  That  considering  no  small 
advantage  may  accrue  to  the  Church  of  God,  of  all 
the  Latin  editions  in  circulation,  some  one  should 
be  regarded  as  authentic,  doth  ordain  and  declare, 
that  the  same  old  and  vulgate  edition,  which  has 
been  approved  by  its  use  in  the  church  for  ages, 
shall  be  held  authentic  in  lectures,  sermons,  expo 
sitions,  and  disputations,  and  that  no  one  shall  dare 
or  presume  to  reject  it,  under  any  pretence  whatever." 
And  further,  "  That  in  matters  of  faith  and  morals, 
no  one,  confiding  in  his  own  judgment,  shall  dare 
to  wrest  the  Sacred  Scriptures  to  his  own  sense  of 
them,  contrary  to  that  which  hath  been  held,  and 
still  is  held,  by  Holy  Mother  Church,  whose  right 
it  is  to  judge  of  the  true  meaning  and  interpretation 
of  the  Sacred  Word,  or  contrary  to  the  unanimous 
consent  of  the  fathers,  even  though  such  consent 
has  never  been  published." 


ROMANISM   A   POLITICAL   CORPORATION.         409 

Now,  Americans,  do  not  forget  to  note  this 
solemn  fact,  that  what  this  Komish  system  styles 
the  "vulgate,"  or  "old  Latin  version  of  the 
Bible,"  is  filled  with  interpolations,  additions,  and 
subtractions,  and  the  falsehoods  of  the  Apocrypha, 
and  treats  with  entire  contempt  the  original  Greek 
language  of  that  blessed  book,  which  alone  is  able 
to  make  us  "  wise  unto  salvation." 

This  Roman  policy  forces  upon  its  church  a 
spurious  Bible,  and  ordains  it  a  standard  opposed 
to  God's  Word,  and  makes  it  also  exclusive,  in 
order  to  carry  out  its  own  accursed  purposes.  It 
forbids  men  and  women  to  think  for  themselves. 
You  will  further  find,  on  the  thirtieth  page  of  their 
index  of  "  prohibited  books,"  that  they  actually 
forbid  the  reading  of  any  Bible  in  any  translation 
Not  merely  the  Protestant,  but  the  Roman  Bible, 
and  this  only  under  the  sanction  of  their  church, 
thus  :  **  Biblia  Vulgar i  quocunque  Idiomate  con- 
scripta,"  which  means,  the  Bible,  in  whatever 
idiom  written,  is  prohibited. 
18 


CHAPTER     III. 

Now,  let  the  hierarchy  of  Rome,  in  the  United 
States,  to-day,  rise  up,  if  they  dare,  and  deny  that 
the  decrees  and  rules  which  we  quote  here  from 
their  councils  and  papal  authorities  are  not  true  ; 
are  not  rigidly  enforced  by  them  upon  every  sub 
ject  of  their  priestly  influence  !  Let  any  lover  of 
his  country  deny  that  this  power  tramples  liberty 
in  the  dust!  Pope  Gregory  XVI.,  in  his  ency 
clical  letter  addressed  to  the  faithful  of  the  world, 
August  5th,  1832,  at  the  time  of  his  coronation, 
wrote  thus : 

"  Towards  this  point  tends  the  most  vile,  detest 
able,  and  never  to  be  sufficiently  execrated  liberty  of 
booksellers,  namely,  of  publishing  writings  of  what 
ever  kind  they  please  ;  a  liberty  which  some  persons 
dare  with  such  violence  of  language  to  denounce  and 
promote."  "  The  Apostles,"  he  continues,  "pub 
licly  burned  a  vast  quantity  of  books."  "  This 
matter  occupied,"  says  he,  "  the  attention  of  the 


ROMANISM   A   POLITICAL    CORPORATION.         411 

fathers,  who  applied  a  remedy  to  so  great  an  evil  by 
publishing  a  salutary  decree  for  compiling  an  index 
of  books  in  which  improper  doctrines  were  contained. 
We  must  exterminate  the  deadly  mischief  of  so  many 
books  ;  for  the  matter  of  guilty  error  will  never  be 
effectually  removed  unless  the  guilty  elements  of 
depravity  be  consumed  in  the  flames."  "The  Holy 
See  has  striven  throughout  all  ages  to  condemn  sus 
pected  and  noxious  books,  and  wrest  them  out  of 
men's  hands.  It  is  clear  how  false,  and  rash,  and 
fruitful  of  enormous  evil  to  the  Apostolic  See,  is  the 
doctrine  of  those  who  not  only  reject  the  censorship 
of  books  as  too  severe  and  burdensome,  but  proceed 
to  that  length  of  wickedness  as  to  assert  that  it  is 
contrary  to  equal  justice,  and  dare  to  deny  to  the 
church  the  right  of  enacting  and  employing  it." 

It  needs  no  telescope,  Americans,  to  discover 
now  why  Pope  Pius  the  Ninth,  the  successor  of 
Gregory,  has  had  his  foreign  hierarchy  at  work,  to 
get  the  Bible  out  of  your  public  and  free  schools, 
and  to  expunge  passages  from  school-books,  which 
treat  of  the  Reformation,  and  rights  of  men  to  be 
free  to  worship  God  as  they  choose.  It  is  no  won 
der,  now,  why  they  dare  to  commit  the  blasphemy, 
and  insult  the  Christian  community,  in  publicly 


412        ROMANISM   A   POLITICAL   CORPORATION. 

burning  the  Bible  in  New  York,  and  other  places 
in  our  country. 

The  right  to  worship  God,  Americans  contend, 
none  can  take  away,  unless  it  interferes  or  involves 
the  rights  of  other  men.  This  religious  right  is 
spoken  of  in  the  constitution  as  a  civil  right,  which 
it  neither  gave  nor  can  take  away.  The  constitu 
tion  protects  this  right  of  free  worship  ;  and  de 
clares,  in  direct  terms,  that,  "when  any  form  of 
government  becomes  destructive  of  these  ends,  the 
people  have  the  right  to  alter  and  abolish  it."  It 
asserts  the  necessity  of  revolution,  if  these  rights 
are  undermined.  The  tyranny  of  forcing  men  to 
accept,  without  choice,  the  doctrine  and  faith  of  the 
Romish  church,  submitting  to  the  tyranny  of  the 
confessional,  making  a  Romish  priest  the  judge  and 
lord  of  conscience,  is  an  invasion  upon  the  just 
political  exercise  of  American  men.  The  Romish 
catechism  says,  that  "  the  priests  hold  the  place, 
the  power,  and  authority,  of  God  on  earth." 
The  practical  effect  of  the  confessional  is  to  put 
all  men  who  confess  to  them  in  their  power,  and 
at  their  disposal.  Hence  the  danger  to  American 
liberty.  Out  of  the  Romish  church,  they  teach, 


ROMANISM   A   POLITICAL    CORPORATION.         413 

there  is  no  salvation.  In  it,  remember,  Ameri 
cans,  there  is  no  liberty. 

Jesuitism,  says  De  Pradt,  embarrasses  itself  very 
little  about  means, —  scruples  are  trifles.  The  de 
cisions  of  the  Council  of  Trent  are  laws  with  all  the 
Roman  Catholics.  The  broad  seal  is  set  by  this 
last  great  council,  and  over  the  whole  earth  every 
Romanist  is  under  the  following  obligation :  *  *  I 
also  profess,  and  undoubtedly  receive,  all  other 
things  delivered,  defined,  and  declared,  by  the 
sacred  canons,  the  general  councils,  and  particu 
larly  the  holy  Council  of  Trent."  The  hierarchy 
impose  on  the  civil  power,  by  this  oath,  to  punish 
heretics ;  to  exterminate  them,  in  order  to  give 
their  lands  to  Catholics  ;  while,  in  return,  great 
indulgences  are  given  to  their  persecutors. 

Baptism,  by  their  catechism  and  theology,  makes 
subjects  of  the  church  ;  and,  being  so,  the  church 
has  ordained  means  to  punish  them. 

No  Protestant  in  our  land  would  dare  to  refuse 
his  son  or  daughter  the  right  to  unite  with  Papists, 
although  they  knew  it  would  shut  the  Bible  from 
their  sight,  make  the  pardon  of  the  priest  their 
means  of  salvation,  require  them  to  confess  their 
inmost  secret  sins  to  wicked  men,  and  send  them 


414        ROMANISM  A   POLITICAL   CORPORATION. 

into  "  voluntary  slavery  "  of  the  most  abject  and 
degraded  character.  Why?  Because  the  system 
is  beguiled  under  the  name  of  religion.  And  it  is 
an  invasion  on  Protestant  liberty,  on  our  constitu 
tional  republican  rights,  to  abridge  personal  choice. 

The  political  system  of  Rome  is  subject  here, 
as  in  all  other  countries,  to  the  Roman  head  of 
the  church,  whom  the  foreign  hierarchy  are  sworn 
to  support  and  obey  by  the  most  solemn  oath,  in 
things  temporal  and  spiritual.  They  are  even 
bound  to  put  to  death,  when  o'rdered,  any  heretic 
in  a  Catholic  family,  and  deny  them  the  right  to 
lie  down  in  the  same  family  grave-yard. 

History,  as  well  as  the  evidence  of  the  present 
day,  is  full  of  these  facts.  De  Pradt  says  :  "  Cath 
olicism  is  not  organized  like  other  worships.  The 
latter  have  no  common  centre  ;  no  exclusive  source 
from  whence  flows  power  in  every  religious  society. 
They  have  no  Rome,  nor  precedents  of  Rome,  nor 
pretensions  of  Rome.  The  exaltation  or  depression 
of  these  worships  is  of  no  importance  in  the  political 
order  of  states.  It  is  not  so  with  Rome  ;  everything 
in  Catholicism  tends  to  Rome.  The  Pope  is  chief 
of  one  hundred  and  twenty  millions  of  followers. 


BOMANISM  A  POLITICAL   CORPORATION.        415 

Catholicism  cannot  have  less  than  four  hundred 
thousand  priests.  The  idolatrous  worship  of  that 
church  and  its  priests  is  spread  everywhere.  The 
Irish  priests  in  America  are  more  obsequious  to 
Rome  than  the  German  or  French  priests,  who  are 
placed  nearest  to  her.  Reverence  is  increased  with 
distance.  Rome,  viewed  at  a  distance,  is  a  colos 
sus.  The  Pope  counts  more  subjects  than  a  sover 
eign  ;  more  even  than  many  sovereigns  together. 
These  have  subjects  only  on  THEIR  OWN  TERRITORY. 
The  Pope  counts  SUBJECTS  ON  THE  TERRITORY  OF 
ALL  SOVEREIGNS.  These  command  only  the  exterior. 
The' Pope  penetrates  deeper.  He  commands  the  inte 
rior.  The  seat  of  his  empire  is  placed  in  the  con 
science  itself.  If  the  whole  world  were  Roman 
Cat  holies ,  then  the  Pope  would  command  the 
world.  What  a  power  !  What  would  it  leave  to 
others  ?  In  a  word,  he  would  shake  the  world,  and 
shroud  it  in  midnight  darkness.  He  did  it,  for 
ages,  in  respect  to  Europe.  Not  to  know  how  to  fore 
see,  is  not  to  know  how  to  govern  or  judge  the  world." 

The  writer  who  gave  this  graphic  description  of 
the  political  system  of  Popery  was  an  Abbe  of  the 
Pope,  and  knew  the  exact  meaning  of  all  he  said. 

If  ever  Rome  has  the  power  in  this  country, 


416        ROMANISM   A   POLITICAL   CORPORATION. 

which  she  is  striving,  by  the  aid  of  all  Catholic 
Europe,  and  certain  blind,  selfish  American  politi 
cians,  to  attain,  the  treasonable  war  will  be  waged 
under  the  name  of  religion.  Rome  knows  her  polit 
ical  men,  and  her  zealous  agents  in  the  United 
States,  almost  to  a  unit ;  and  she  knows  her  re 
sources,  also,  to  a  dollar.  She  waits  only  for 
strength  to  her  increasing  resources,  and  the  multi 
plication  of  her  numbers,  for  her  successful  aggres 
sion  on  the  ballot-box,  and  her  acquisition  of  the 
civil  power.  When  ripe,  eventually,  and  in  suc 
cessful  domination,  she  will  confiscate  our  lands. 
She  will  pay  her  devoted  political  aspirants,  as  the 
price  of  their  treason,  in  papal  votes.  She  will 
enlist  the  zealous  devotion  of  all  the  Catholic  Irish, 
and  priest-ridden  foreign  Papists,  through  the 
dangerous  and  unlimited  power  of  priestly  absolu 
tion  in  the  confessional,  and  the  dispensation  of 
indulgences  by  t^ie  Pope. 

The  bull  is  published,  and  is  irrepealable,  in 
America,  to-day,  in  which  "  the  great  hunter  of 
men"  raves  through  the  earth,  and  lays  his  curse 
and  his  claim  on  all  the  civil  and  religious  rights 
of  man,  not  even  leaving  a  grave  for  a  heretic. 
He  claims  jurisdiction  over  armies,  navies,  seas, 


ROMANISM   A   POLITICAL   CORPORATION.         417 

lands,  treasures,  coasts,  &c.  The  Pope  could 
order  the  extermination,  by  a  crusade,  of  heretics 
within  any  province  under  his  undisputed  control. 
What  hinders  him  but  the  iron  will  and  the  ma 
jority  of  Americans,  from  putting  in  operation  the 
persecuting  principle  inherent  in  the  very  system 
of  Popery  ? 

Has  not  the  Pope  palsied  and  ruined  every  coun 
try,  where  his  power  could  be  felt?  Look  at  the 
kingdoms  and  states  of  Italy, — Lombardy,  Florence, 
Tuscany,  Genoa,  Naples, —  so  flourishing,  once,  in 
maritime  prosperity,  and  all  the  arts  of  genius  ! 
Look  at  Spain,  Portugal,  France,  Austria,  Mexico, 
the  states  of  South  America ! 

Why  that  tyrannical  oppression  of  the  beautiful 
valleys  of  Piedmont?  Why  that  bloody  triumph 
of  the  Vatican  over  the  martyred  Waldenses  and 
Albigenses  ?  Why  has  this  spirit,  of  persecution 
extinguished  every  rising  effort  for  liberty,  trod 
den  crowns  in  the  dust,  and  drenched  Europe  and 
the  earth  in  blood  ?  If  the  Pope,  at  any  time, 
relaxed  his  grasp  of  empires,  and  his  tortures  of 
the  Inquisition, —  if,  at  any  time,  the  fires  at  the 
stake  have  been  put  out,  and  the  groans  of  slaugh- 
18* 


418         ROMANISM   A   POLITICAL    CORPORATION. 

tered  victims  have  ceased  to  fall  on  the  ear, —  to 
what  is  it  to  be  ascribed  but  to  the  want  of  unre 
strained  power,  and  the  energies  of  some  Luther, 
some  Elector  of  Saxony,  some  conquering  arm  of 
Marlborough,  Charles  XII.,  or  a  Napoleon?  Did 
the  Pope  attempt  to  tread  on  the  liberties  of  Venice 
in  the  seventeenth  century,  and  is  he  a  lamb  to 
day  ?  If  he  spared  not  Venice  then,  why  does  he 
spare  the  United  States  to-day  ?  For  this  sinxple 
reason,  the  want  of  strength  and  a  majority.  For 
it  is  the  boast  of  the  hierarchy,  that  its  principles 
and  character  never  change. 

Du  Pin,  the  papal  historian,  furnishes  the  most 
striking  picture  of  the  Papacy  in  the  seventeenth 
century  : 

THE    HISTORY     OF    THE    INTERDICT    OF    VENICE,    FULMI 
NATED   BY   POPE   PAUL  V.* 

"  The  difference  of  the  Republic  of  Venice  with  Paul  V. 
is  one  of  the  most  important  points  of  the  ecclesiastical 
history  of  the  seventeenth  century ;  not  only  hy  reason  on 
the  subject  of  the  dispute,  but  also  much  more  on  account 
of  the  great  number  of  questions  which  were  agitated  on 
occasion  of  that  difference,  by  the  most  able  divines  and 
lawyers  of  that  time.  The  Senate  of  Venice  made  two  de 
crees  in  the  beginning  of  that  century ;  by  the  first  of  which 

*  From  Du  Pin's   Ecclesiastical  History,  VoL  viii.  Book  ii.  Chap.  1. 
Century  17th. 


ROMANISM   A   POLITICAL    CORPORATION.         419 

it  was  forbidden,  under  severe  penalties,  to  build  hospitals 
or  monasteries,  or  to  establish  new  convents  or  societies,  in 
the  state  of  Venice,  without  the  permission  of  the  senate. 
By  the  other,  which  was  made  the  26th  of  March,  1605,  a 
law  made  in  1536  was  renewed,  confirmed,  and  extended 
over  all  parts  of  the  state,  forbidding  all  the  subjects  of  the 
republic  to  sell,  alienate,  or  dispose  in  any  manner  whatso 
ever,  of  immovable  goods  in  perpetuity,  in  favor  of  ecclesi 
astical  persons,  without  the  consent  of  the  senate;  upon 
condition,  nevertheless,  that  if  any  legacies  of  immovable 
goods  were  bequeathed,  those  goods  should  be  sold  within 
two  years  after,  and  the  purchase  given  to  discharge  those 
legacies.  There  happened  at  the  same  time  two  criminal 
affairs,  which  concerned  the  ecclesiastics.  Scipion  Sarra- 
sm,  canon  of  Vicenza,  who  had  taken  off  the  seal  of  the 
magistrates,  affixed  to  the  Episcopal  chancery,  at  the  re 
quest  of  the  chancellor,  the  see  being  vacant,  was  seized  by 
the  senate,  and  put  into  prison,  for  having  insulted  one  of 
his  kinswomen,  whom  he  intended  to  debauch;  and  some 
time  after,  Count  Baldolin  Valde-marino.  Abbot  Feveza, 
being  accused  of  many  enormous  crimes,  was  imprisoned 
by  order  of  the  senate.  The  Pope,  Paul  V.,  being  per 
suaded  that  the  decrees  and  enterprises  against  the  clergy 
encroached  upon  ecclesiastical  jurisdiction,  complained  of 
them  to  the  ambassador  of  Venice,  and  demanded  of  the 
senate,  by  his  nuncio,  that  the  decrees  should  be  revoked 
immediately,  and  the  ecclesiastics  imprisoned  by  the  au 
thority  of  the  senate  delivered  into  the  hands  of  his  nuncio, 
to  be  tried  by  ecclesiastical  judges ;  threatening  to  interdict 
the  republic,  if  he  was  not  obeyed  immediately.  The  senate 
answered,  the  1st  of  December,  1605,  that  they  could  not 
release  prisoners  accused  of  crime  which  -belong  to  the 


420         ROMANISM   A   POLITICAL   CORPORATION. 

recognizance  of  the  secular  judges,  nor  revoke  the  laws 
which  they  had  a  right  to  make,  and  which  they  believed 
necessary  for  the  good  of  the  state.  The  Pope,  having  re 
ceived  this  answer  by  letters  from  his  nuncio,  and  by  word 
of  mouth  from  the  ambassador  of  Venice,  despatched  on  the 
10th  of  December  two  briefs ;  the  one  addressed  to  Marin 
Grimani,  Doge  of  Venice,  and  the  other  to  the  republic,  by 
way  of  monitory,  exhorting  the  state  to  revoke  their  de 
crees,  which  he  thought  contrary  to  the  canons,  and  preju 
dicial  to  the  liberties  of  the  church ;  declaring  that  they 
who  made  these  laws,  or  caused  them  to  be  executed,  had 
incurred  ecclesiastical  censures,  from  which  they  could  not 
be  freed  but  by  revoking  those  statutes,  and  reestablishing 
affairs  in  their  former  state.  He  commanded  them,  under 
the  penalty  of  excommunication,  latce  Sententiee,  to  revoke 
them,  which,  if  they  refused,  he  protested  that  he  should  be 
obliged  to  put  in  execution  the  penalties  annexed  to  such 
offences,  without  any  other  citation ;  being  not  willing  that 
God  should  call  him  to  account  one  day  for  having  thus 
failed  in  his  duty,  and  not  being  able  to  dissemble,  when  he 
saw  the  authority  of  the  holy  Apostolic  See  infringed,  the 
ecclesiastical  immunities  trampled  under  foot,  the  canons 
and  holy  decrees  neglected,  and  the  rights  and  privileges 
of  the  church  subverted." 

The  Pope  sent  these  briefs  to  his  nuncio  at  Venice,  with 
orders  ' '  to  present  and  publish  them ;  and  acquainted  the 
cardinals,  in  a  consistory  held  the  12th  of  that  month,  with 
the  subject  of  complaint  he  had  against  the  republic  of 
Venice,  and  with  what  he  had  done  thereupon.  Neverthe 
less,  the  republic  appointed  Leonardo  Donato,  procurator  of 
St.  Mark,  to  go  express,  and  treat  of  this  affair  in  the 
quality  of  ambassador  at  Rome.  The  nuncio,  not  having 
received  those  briefs  till  the  day  after  Donato  had  been 


. 

ROMANISM   A  POLITICAL    CORPORATION.         421 

chosen  ambassador,  thought  he  ought  to  put  off  the  publica 
tion  of  them,  and  wrote  to  the  Pope,  who  ordered  him  to 
present  them.  The  nuncio  received  this  order  on  Christmas 
eve,  and  presented,  the  day  following,  the  briefs  to  the 
counsellors  assembled  to  assist  at  a  solemn  mass,  in  the 
absence  of  the  Doge  Grimani,  who  was  extremely  ill,  and 
died  the  day  following.  His  death  was  the  reason  why  the 
briefs  were  not  opened,  the  senate  having  ordered  that  no 
affair  should  be  transacted,  but  that  of  the  election  of  a  doge. 
The  Pope,  on  his  side,  wrote  to  the  nuncio  to  protest  to  the 
senate  that  they  ought  not  to  proceed  to  a  new  election, 
because  it  would  be  null,  as  made  by  excommunicated  per 
sons.  The  nuncio  pressingly  demanded  audience  to  make 
this  declaration ;  but  the  senate  would  not  give  it  him,  it 
being  not  customary  to  receive  any  memorials  from  the 
ministers  of  foreign  princes  during  the  interregnum,  but 
compliments  of  condolence.  The  electors  were  not  a  long 
time  in  choosing  a  new  doge.  The  10th  of  January,  1606, 
Leonardo  Donato  was  advanced  to  that  high  dignity.  All 
the  ambassadors  went  immediately,  according  to  custom,  to 
visit  the  new  doge,  and  pay  him  their  compliments.  But 
the  nuncio  would  not  visit  him.  The  doge  did  not  omit 
writing  to  the  Pope,  according  to  custom,  to  notify  his  elec 
tion  to  him ;  and  the  Pope  received  his  letter.  The  first 
affair  which  was  transacted  at  Venice,  after  the  election  of 
the  doge,  was  the  difference  of  the  republic  with  the  Pope. 
It  began  with  nominating  the  Chevalier  Duodo  in  the  place 
of  Leonardo  Donato  (who  was  elected  doge),  ambassador  at 
Rome.  After  this  the  briefs  were  opened ;  and  when  the 
senate  saw  what  they  contained,  before  they  returned  an 
answer  to  the  Pope  they  determined  to  have  the  advice  of 
some  divines  and  lawyers.  The  lawyers  whom  they  princi 
pally  considered  were  Erasmus  Gratian,  of  Udina,  and  Mark 


422         ROMANISM   A   POLITICAL    CORPORATION. 

Antonio  Pellegrin,  of  Padua;  and  the  famous  Fra-Paolo 
Sarpi,  of  the  order  of  the  Servites,  was  appointed  the  divine 
of  the  republic.  It  was  also  resolved  not  only  to  consult 
the  doctors  of  the  university  of  Padua  and  of  Venice,  but 
also  the  most  able  lawyers  of  Italy  and  Europe,  who  sent 
them  their  opinions,  with  the  laws  of  the  other  kingdoms 
and  churches  of  Christendom,  which  had  any  relation  to  the 
affair  in  question.  Then  the  senate,  after  having  understood 
the  opinion  of  the  doctors,  returned  this  answer  to  the  Pope, 
the  28th  of  January :  { That  they  heard,  with  a  great  deal 
of  grief  and  astonishment,  by  letters  from  his  holiness,  that 
he  had  condemned  the  laws  of  the  republic  (observed  with 
success  for  many  ages,  and  with  which  his  predecessors  had 
found  no  fault),  as  contrary  to  the  authority  of  the  holy 
Apostolic  See ;  and  that  he  regarded  those  who  had  made 
them  (who  were  men  of  piety,  and  had  well  deserved  of  the 
see  of  Rome)  as  persons  who  broke  the  ecclesiastical  immu 
nities;  that,  according  to  the  admonition  of  his  holiness, 
they  had  caused  to  be  examined  their  ancient  and  modern 
laws,  and  that  they  had  found  nothing  in  them  which  could 
not  be  ordained  by  the  authority  of  a  sovereign  prince,  or 
which  infringed  on  the  power  of  the  Pope ;  because  it  is 
certain  that  it  belongs  to  a  secular  prince  to  take  cognizance 
of  all  societies  which  are  founded  within  his  own  jurisdic 
tion,  and  to  take  care  that  no  edifices  may  be  raised  which 
may  prejudice  the  public  safety,  when  there  are  in  a  state 
as  great  a  number  of  churches  and  places  of  devotion  as  is 
sufficient.  That  they  never  refused  giving  leave  to  build 
them ;  the  republic  even  contributing  thereto  very  liberally 
on  her  part.  That  the  law  prohibiting  the  alienation  of  the 
goods  of  the  laity  forever  in  favor  of  the  ecclesiastics  re 
garding  nothing  but  temporal  affairs,  it  cannot  be  pretended 
that  they  have  done  anything  by  that  against  the  canons. 


ROMANISM    A   POLITICAL    CORPORATION.         423 

That  if  the  Popes  had  power  to  forbid  the  ecclesiastics  to 
alienate  in  favor  of  secular  persons  the  goods  of  the  church 
without  her  consent,  it  might  be  lawful  for  princes  to  pro 
hibit  seculars  also  to  alienate  theirs  in  favor  of  the  eccle 
siastics  without  their  permission.  That  the  ecclesiastics  lose 
nothing  by  their  decrees,  because  they  receive  the  value  of 
the  immovable  goods  which  are  given  or  bequeathed  to 
them.  That  this  alienation,  weakening  the  state,  is  not  less 
prejudicial  in  spiritual  than  temporal  concernments.  That 
the  senate  cannot  believe  they  have  incurred  any  censure 
by  making  these  laws,  since  princes  have  by  a  divine  law, 
from  which  no  human  authority  can  derogate,  the  power  of 
making  laws  in  temporal  affairs.  That  the  admonitions  of 
his  holiness  have  no  effect  but  in  matters  that  are  purely 
spiritual,  and  not  in  a  temporal  afiair,  which  is  in  all  things 
separate,  and  wholly  exempt  from  the  pontifical  authority. 
That  the  senate  does  not  believe  his  holiness,  who  is  full  of 
piety  and  religion,  will  persevere,  without  knowledge  of  the 
cause,  in  his  menaces.  That  these  were  an  abridgment  of 
the  senate's  reasons,  which  their  extraordinary  ambassador 
would  give  him  to  understand  more  largely.' 

"  The  Pope,  having  received  this  answer  of  the  senate, 
declared  to  the  ambassador  that  he  could  not  relax  his 
severity  if  they  did  not  revoke  their  laws,  and  deliver  into 
the  hands  of  his  nuncio  the  prisoners.  He  complained  still 
more  of  another  decree  they  had  made  upon  the  emphytheo- 
ses,*  and  caused  his  complaints  to  be  delivered  by  his  nun 
cio  to  the  senate.  As  he  knew  they  would  give  him  no 
satisfaction  thereupon,  he  gave  .orders  for  another  brief  to 
be  presented,  the  10th  of  December,  to  the  senate,  whereby 
he  required  that  the  two  prisoners  should  be  delivered  to 
his  nuncio,  under  the  penalty  of  excommunication.  The 

*  A  term  of  law  for  a  long  lease,  from  ten  to  a  hundred  years. 


424        ROMANISM   A   POLITICAL   CORPORATION. 

senate  answered  that  they  would  not  divest  themselves  of 
the  right  which  they  had  to  punish  the  crimes  of  their  sub 
jects,  which  they  had  always  enjoyed  from  the  establish 
ment  of  their  state,  with  the  consent  of  the  sovereign  pontiffs. 
The  extraordinary  ambassador  of  the  republic  came  to  Rome, 
and  represented  to  the  Pope  the  reasons  of  their  proceed 
ings  ;  but  nothing  was  able  to  move  his  holiness.  He  caused 
a  monitory  to  be  drawn  up  against  the  republic  of  Venice, 
and  having  communicated  it  to  the  cardinals  in  consistory, 
the  15th  of  April,  he  ordered  it  to  be  published  and  fixed 
up  in  the  public  places  at  Rome.  This  monitory  imported 
that  the  senate  of  Venice  being  not  willing  to  revoke  the 
laws  which  they  had  made  in  prejudice  of  the  ecclesiastical 
authority,  nor  to  deliver  their  prisoners,  he  declared  these 
laws  to  be  null,  and  pronounced  the  doge  and  republic  of 
Venice  excommunicated,  if,  within  the  space  of  twenty-four 
days,  to  begin  from  the  day  of  the  publication,  they  did  not 
revoke,  break,  and  annul,  the  aforesaid  laws,  and  actually 
deliver  the  canon  and  the  abbot  into  the  hands  of  his  nuncio. 
That  till  such  time  as  they  should  pay  obedience  to  this 
order,  he  forbade  them  to  bury  in  consecrated  ground  those 
who  happened  to  die ;  and  that  if,  within  three  days  after 
the  twenty-four  were  expired,  they  did  not  comply,  he  laid 
the  whole  state  under  an  interdict ;  and  forbade  all  masses 
and  divine  offices  to  be  celebrated,  except  in  such  cases  and 
places  as  were  privileged  by  common  law.  And  that  he 
deprived  the  doge  and  senate  of  all  the  goods  which  they 
possessed  in  the  Roman  church,  or  in  other  churches,  and 
of  all  the  privileges  or  indultos  which  they  had  obtained 
from  the  holy  see,  and  especially  from  those  which  they 
had  to  proceed  against  clerks  in  certain  cases.  The  moni 
tory  was  addressed  to  the  patriarchs,  archbishops,  bishops, 
their  vicar-generals,  and  to  all  the  clergy,  secular  and  regu- 


ROMANISM  A  POLITICAL   CORPORATION.         425 

lar,  having  ecclesiastical  dignity  in  the  state  of  the  republic 
of  Venice. 

"  The  senate,  being  informed  that  the  monitorial  bull  was 
published,  recalled  their  extraordinary  ambassador,  forbade 
all  ecclesiastical  prelates  to  publish  or  set  up  the  bull  of 
the  Pope,  and  commanded  that  all  they  who  had  copies  of 
it  should  carry  them  to  the  magistrates  of  Venice.  The 
Pope,  on  his  side,  recalled  the  nuncio  who  was  at  Venice, 
and  dismissed  the  ordinary  ambassador  of  the  republic.  At 
the  same  time  the  chiefs  of  the  council  of  ten  sent  for  the 
superiors  of  monasteries,  and  of  the  other  churches  of  Venice, 
and  declared  the  intention  of  their  sovereign  to  be  that  they 
should  continue  to  perform  the  divine  offices,  and  that  no 
one  should  leave  the  ecclesiastic  state  without  leave,  assur 
ing  those  who  staid  of  protection ;  and  declaring  that  they 
who  departed  should  not  carry  with  them  any  of  the  goods 
and  ornaments  of  the  churches.  They  commanded  them, 
in  case  any  brief  was  sent  to  them  from  Rome,  or  order 
from  their  superiors,  to  send  it  to  the  magistrates  before 
they  read  it.  And  the  governors  of  all  the  cities  of  the 
state  were  enjoined  to  give  the  same  orders  in  the  places  of 
their  jurisdiction.  The  superiors  immediately  all  promised 
to  obey  the  orders  that  had  been  given  them,  and  to  perform 
divine  service  as  before.  A  council  was  held  upon  what 
was  proper  to  be  done  concerning  the  monitory  of  the  Pope. 
Some  gave  their  advice  to  appeal  from  it,  as  many  princes, 
and  the  republic  itself,  had  done  on  the  like  occasion.  But 
others  believed  there  was  no  occasion  for  having  recourse  to 
this  remedy,  pretending  that  the  briefs  were  notoriously 
null  of  themselves.  This  opinion  was  followed,  and  nothing 
was  done,  but  a  mandate  made  in  the  name  of  the  doge, 
addressed  to  all  the  ecclesiastics  of  the  republic,  wherein  he 
declared  that,  having  received  advice  of  the  publication, 


426         ROMANISM   A   POLITICAL    CORPORATION. 

April  17th,  at  Rome  of  a  certain  brief  fulminated  against 
him,  and  the  senate,  and  sovereignty  of  Venice,  he  thought 
himself  obliged  to  employ  his  cares  in  maintaining  the 
public  tranquillity,  and  supporting  the  authority  of  the 
prince.  That  he  protested  before  God  he  had  not  omitted 
any  means  of  informing  and  laying  before  the  Pope  the 
strong  and  convincing  reasons  of  the  republic.  But  that 
having  found  his  ears  closed,  and  seen  the  brief  he  had  pub 
lished  against  all  kind  of  reason  and  justice  in  opposition 
to  the  doctrine  of  the  Holy  Scripture,  the  fathers  and 
canons,  and  to  the  prejudice  of  the  secular  authority  which 
God  has  bestowed  upon  sovereign  princes,  the  liberty  of  the 
state  and. the  public  repose,  and  to  the  great  scandal  and 
offence  of  the  whole  Christian  world ;  he  held  that  brief  to 
be  not  only  unjust,  but  also  null,  unlawfully  fulminated  in 
fact,  and  contrary  to  the  rules  of  law,  and  that  he  would 
use  the  same  remedies  which  his  predecessors  and  other 
princes  have  used  against  the  Popes,  who  abused  the  au 
thority  which  God  had  given  them  to  edification,  and  passed 
the  bounds  of  their  power.  And  this  he  was  the  more  in 
clined  to  do,  forasmuch  as  he  was  certain  that  this  brief 
would  be  looked  upon  in  the  same  light,  not  only  by  all  the 
subjects  of  the  republic,  but  also  by  the  whole  Christian 
world.  That  he  was  persuaded  they  would  continue,  as 
before,  to  take  care  of  the  souls  of  the  faithful,  and  to  per 
form  the  divine  offices,  beuag  fully  resolved  to  persevere  in 
the  Catholic  and  apostolic  faith,  and  the  respect  which  is 
due  to  the  holy  Roman  church.  This  mandate,  dated  the 
6th  of  May,  1606,  was  immediately  published  and  set  up  at 
Venice,  and  in  all  the  cities  of  the  state. 

"As  the  term  of  twenty- four  days  allowed  by  the  briefs 
approached,  and  the  Jesuits,  who  had  received  particular 
orders  from  the  Pope,  showed  plainly  that  they  were  in- 


ROMANISM   A   POLITICAL    CORPORATION.         427 

clined  to  observe  the  interdict,  and  would  at  least  abstain 
from  saying  of  mass,  they  were  commanded,  on  the  10th  of 
May,  to  give  an  express  declaration  of  the  measures  they 
designed  to  take.  They  acknowledged  then  that  they  could 
not  celebrate  mass  during  the  interdict,  and  that  if  the 
senate  obliged  them  to  do  it,  they  chose  rather  to  retire  from 
Venice.  Upon  this  answer,  the  senate  resolved  to  send 
them  away,  and  appointed  the  grand  Vicar  of  the  Patriarch 
to  receive  the  ornaments  of  their  churches,  and  gave  them 
order  to  depart  immediately.  They  went  out  that  evening, 
carrying  each  of  them  a  consecrated  host  about  their  necks ; 
and  being  put  into  two  barks,  retired  to  Ferrara.  The 
Jesuits  in  the  convents  which  were  in  the  other  cities  of  the 
republic  departed  also.  As  it  was  manifest  that  the  Capu 
chins,  Theatins,  and  other  regulars,  after  the  example  of 
the  Jesuits,  were  resolved  to  observe  the  interdict,  the  senate 
published  a  decree,  the  last  day  of  the  term,  by  which  all 
those  who  refused  to  celebrate  the  divine  offices,  in  the 
accustomed  manner,  were  enjoined  to  retire  out  of  the  juris 
diction  of  the  republic ;  upon  which  the  Capuchins  and 
Theatins  departed  also,  and  the  other  religions  were  placed 
in  the  government  of  their  churches.  The  Capuchins  of  the 
territories  of  Bresca  and  Bergamo  stayed,  and  continued  to 
perform  divine  offices,  like  the  other  ecclesiastics,  secular 
and  regular,  of  the  republic. 

"The  nuncios  of  the  Pope,  who  were  in  the  courts  of 
Catholic  princes  of  Europe,  endeavored  to  exclude  from 
divine  service  the  ambassadors  and  envoys  of  Venice ;  but 
their  attempts  were  fruitless.  They  continued  to  be  treated 
as  they  used  to  be,  and  were  admitted  to  prayers,  assem 
blies,  and  the  ecclesiastic  ceremonies,  as  heretofore,  in 
France,  Spain,  Italy,  and  Poland.  The  ambassador  of  the 
republic  assisted  in  person  at  Vienna,  in  the  first  solemn 


428         ROMANISM  A   POLITICAL    CORPORATION. 

procession  of  the  Holy  Sacrament,  which  was  made  by  the 
Jesuits.  But  the  nuncio,  who  was  not  present  for  fear  of 
meeting  the  ambassador,  gave  out  such  menaces,  that  the 
ambassador  did  not  think  fit  to  be  present  at  the  two  follow 
ing  ones.  Though  the  interdict  was  not  observed  in  the 
states  of  Venice,  it  occasioned  tumults  and  seditions  in 
several  places,  which  the  senate,  having  attributed  to  the 
suggestions  of  the  Jesuits,  made  a  decree,  the  14th  of  June, 
whereby  they  declared  that  the  Jesuits  should  never  more 
be  received  for  the  future  in  any  place  of  the  state  of  Arenice, 
and  that  this  decree  should  never  be  revoked,  before  there 
had  been  first  read  the  whole  process  in  presence  of  all  the 
senate,  which  should  be  composed  at  least  of  a  hundred  and 
four  score  senators,  and  unless  there  were  five  for  one  who 
voted  for  the  revocation. 

"  Nevertheless,  the  Christian  princes  interposed  to  accom 
modate  the  difference  betwixt  the  Pope  and  the  Venetians. 
But  these  would  not  hear  any  proposition  of  accommodation 
before  the  Pope  had  taken  away  the  interdict,  and  the  Pope 
demanded  before  all  things  the  revocation  of  the  decrees. 
The  ambassador  of  the  most  Christian  king  exerted  himself 
more  strongly  and  efficaciously  than  any  one  else  in  bring 
ing  matters  to  an  accommodation,  and  at  length  effected  it. 
The  King  of  Spain  assured  the  Pope  that  he  would  assist 
him  with  all  his  forces,  and  that  he  had  given  orders  for 
that  purpose  to  his  ministers  in  Italy.  But  these  promises 
had  no  other  effect  than  to  retard  the  accommodation,  and 
had  like  to  have  kindled  a  war  in  Italy.  Some  unknown 
persons  having  set  up  in  the  state  of  Venice  a  placard  by 
which  the  republic  was  exhorted  to  separate  herself  from 
the  Roman  Church,  the  senate  commanded  that  search 
should  be  made  after  the  author  of  it,  and  protested  that 
their  intention  was  never  to  depart  from  the  Catholic  reli- 


ROMANISM   A   POLITICAL    CORPORATION.         429 

gion,  nor  the  obedience  due  to  the  Holy  See.  They  pub 
lished  afterwards  several  orders  to  maintain  a  war,  in  case 
they  should  be  attacked.  The  Pope,  on  his  side,  solicited 
the  princes  of  Italy  to  put  himself  into  a  condition  to  attack 
the  Venetians,  or  to  defend  himself,  if  he  should  be  attacked 
by  them.  On  each  side  preparations  of  war  were  made, 
but  the  dispute  never  came  to  an  open  rupture.  It  was  not 
so  in  the  war  which  was  carried  on  by  the  pen ;  for  a  very 
great  number  of  writings  were  published  on  both  sides,  with 
heat,  vivacity,  and  learning.  Though  the  affair  had  a 
lowering  aspect,  and  all  things  threatened  a  rupture,  the 
ambassadors  of  France  did  not  cease,  nevertheless,  to  nego 
tiate  an  accommodation." 


CHAPTER    IV. 

WE  learn  from  his  history  that  the  Pope,  only 
two  centuries  ago,  excommunicated  a  whole  people 
for-  exercising  the  right  to  punish,  by  civil  jurisdic 
tion,  two  ecclesiastics,  for  drunkenness,  murder, 
and  other  crimes,  and  for  prohibiting  the  erection 
of  monasteries  and  nunneries.  These  matters  be 
longed  to  the  state  government  alone.  The  courts 
of  the  church  had  no  right  to  try  civil  cases,  or 
inflict  temporal  punishment,  without  infringing  on 
the  liberties  of  the  people,  and  violating  the  laws 
of  God.  The  Pope  demanded  that  these  criminals 
of  the  republic  of  Venice  should  be  tried  by  him 
in  his  ecclesiastical  court,  and  threatened  an  in 
stant  interdict  if  prompt  obedience  did  not  ensue. 
The  monasteries  were  polluting  and  ruining  their 
country  ;  and  the  senate  passed  salutary  laws  pro 
hibiting  their  future  erection,  without  the  consent 
of  the  legislature,  and  regulating  the  bestowment 
of  property  on  the  clergy,  who  were  securing  the 


A.Cr.S.irfresidrng  Ofnter  ofthr  I'frJtr  c.  •  'Mf  "rated  Amnxvu  vi  the  Ruied St.it. 


ROMANISM   A   POLITICAL    CORPORATION.         431 

treasure  and  soil  of  the  country  in  their  own  hands. 
The  Pope  would  not  allow  the  state  to  govern  his 
subjects,  though  they  resided  in  it. 

The  Jesuits — observe,  Americans !  —  left  Venice 
to  espouse  publicly  the  cause  of  the  Pope  as  a 
military  foe  to  Venice  ;  and  the  oath  of  allegiance 
to  the  Pope,  by  every  Jesuit  bishop  and  priest,  will 
lead  to  the  same  results  in  this  country  whenever 
the  blow  is  struck  openly  for  Popery. 

"  The  Pope,"  says  Du  Pin,"  solicited  the  pow 
ers  of  Italy  to  put  him  in  a  condition  to  attack  the 
Venetians,  or  defend  himself  if  attacked  by  them." 
Thus  the  Pope,  the  head  of  the  church,  placed  him 
self  at  the  head  of  the  army,  to  crush  the  republic 
of  Venice  for  punishing  two  priests  who  had  been 
found  guilty  of  incest  and  murder. 

The  Jesuits  then  were  the  soldiery  of  the  Pope, 
and  left  their  country  to  join  him  in  arms.  But, 
to  the  glory  and  praise  of  Jehovah,  there  were 
some  patriotic  spirits  in  Venice  who  stood  up  for 
liberty,  and  who  showed  their  love  for  the  rights  of 
the  people  by  punishing  their  priestly  persecutors, 
and  annihilating  their  convents  and  monasteries,  as 
Spain  and  Portugal  had  done  before  them. 

All  men,  if  their  minds  are  not  demented,  love 


432         ROMANISM   A   POLITICAL    CORPORATION. 

freedom  ;  and  when  Roman  Catholics  have  become 
sufficiently  enlightened  and  caught  the  true  spirit 
of  liberty,  they  have  burst  their  chains  of  bondage, 
and  risen  up  in  Romish  countries,  as  they  did  in  the 
Reformation  of  Luther,  and  recently  have  done  in 
Sardinia,  New  Granada,  and  partially  in  Mexico. 
It  is  by  the  spread  of  knowledge  and  the  influence 
of  true  liberty  that  the  hierarchy  of  Rome  will,  at 
last,  fall.  A  system  so  false  and  pernicious,  a 
power  so  grasping,  a  despotism  so  at  war  with  human 
rights,  so  bloody  and  insufferable,  cannot  last  for 
ever.  The  people  of  the  earth  will,  in  the  fulfil 
ment  of  scriptural  prophecy,  comprehend  that  God 
has  given  them  the  will  to  be  free. 

The  Church  of  Rome  claims  to  be  infallible,  and 
that  it  has  an  unquestioned  right  to  enforce  all  its 
rules  and  tyrannical  oaths  upon  its  subjects.  It 
declares  damnation  on  all  out  of  its  visible  com 
munion.  It  dares  to  claim  universal  spiritual  and 
temporal  dominion,  —  a  more  arrogant  and  impious 
pretence  than  ever  Zenghis-Khan  or  the  most  wicked 
or  victorious  tyrant  ever  claimed.  In  the  decretals 
by  Pope  Gelasius  to  the  Emperor  Aurelius,  it  is 
written  thus : 

"  0,  august  emperor,  there  are  two  by  whom  the 


EOMANISM   A   POLITICAL    CORPORATION.         433 

world  is  chiefly  ruled,  —  the  sacred  authority  of 
the  Popes,  and  the  kingly  power ;  in  the  which, 
that  of  the  priests  preponderates,  inasmuch  as  in 
the  divine  examination  they  will  have  to  answer  to 
the  kings  of  men. "  "Be  well  aware,  therefore,  that 
in  these  matters  you  depend  upon  their  judgment, 
and  they  cannot  be  subservient  to  your  will ;  for 
asmuch  as  you  see  that  the  necks  of  kings  and  princes 
are  put  under  the  knees  of  priests  ;  and  that,  when 
they  have  kissed  their  right  hands,  they  believe 
themselves  to  be  partakers  of  their  prayers."  The 
heading  of  the  chapter  is  in  these  words  :  "  It  is 
necessary  to  the  salvation  of  all  the  faithful  in 
Christ,  that  they  be  subject  to  the  Pope  of  Rome, 
who  has  the  power  of  both  swords,  and  who  judges 
all,  but  is  judged  by  none."  "  Moreover  we  declare, 
assert,  define,  and  pronounce,  that  it  is  altogether 
necessary  to  salvation  for  every  human  creature  to 
be  subject  to  the  Pope  of  Rome." 

What  a  preposterous  decree  !  "What  arrogant 
blasphemy !  The  Pope  pronounces  himself  to  be 
God's  vicegerent  on  earth ;  to  dispose  of  church 
and  state,  heaven  and  hell ;  to  determine  the  eter 
nal  salvation  or  damnation  of  the  souls  of  men ! 
In  perfect  consistency,  he  gave  a  grant  to  Spain 
19 


434         ROMANISM  A   POLITICAL   CORPORATION. 

of  America,  even  before  its  discovery.  This  grant, 
never  having  been  revoked,  is  in  full  force  ;  and 
Mr.  0.  A.  Brownson,  his  Corypheus  in  America, 
says  that  the  Pope  holds  it  as  his  possession  !  And, 
with  the  Pope's  increasing  millions  of  subjects,  his 
accumulating  revenues,  his  subtle  secret  and  open 
emissaries,  his  numerous  and  constantly  multiplying 
papal  schools,  seminaries,  colleges,  nunneries,  and 
monastic  establishments,  and  all  his  swarming 
priests  and  Jesuits,  is  there  not,  my  countrymen, 
ground  for  apprehension  and  serious  alarm  ?  No 
matter  whether  our  politicians  and  unsuspecting  and 
busy  people  see  this  danger ;  no  matter  whether 
the  hope  of  accomplishing  a  particular  end  be  ful 
filled  now  or  centuries  to  come ;  the  springs  and 
ramifications  of  this  system,  often  concealed,  and 
wholly  unlike  all  other  human  inventions,  are  in 
powerful  operation,  and  its  agents  labor  assiduously 
to  effect  this  end. 

Pope  Pius  V.,  in  his  bull  to  Queen  Elizabeth,  in 
which  he  deprives  her  of  her  kingdom,  and  releases 
her  subjects  from  allegiance  to  her  government, 
said  :  "  He  who  reigns  on  high,  to  whom  is  given 
all  power  in  heaven  and  in  earth,  hath  committed 
16  Holy  Catholic  and  Apostolic  Church,  out  of 


ROMANISM   A   POLITICAL   CORPORATION.         435 

which  there  is  no  salvation,  to  one  alone  on  earth, 
namely,  to  Peter,  Prince  of  the  Apostles,  and  to 
the  Roman  Pontiff,  successor  to  Peter,  to  be  gov 
erned  in  the  fulness  of  power.  This  one  man  he 
hath  appointed  prince  over  ALL  NATIONS  AND  ALL 
KINGDOMS,  that  he  may  pluck  up,  destroy,  scatter, 
ruin,  plant,  build." 

The  bull  against  Henry  of  Navarre  and  Prince  of 
Conde',  by  Sixtus  V.,  says:  "The  power  of  the 
Roman  Pontiff  passes  an  uncontrolled  sentence  on 
all ;  casts  down  the  most  powerful  from  their  thrones, 
tumbles  them  down  to  the  lowest  parts  of  the  earth, 
as  ministers  of  the  proud  Lucifer." 

Among  the  definitions  of  papal  power  received 
and  in  use  in   the   Romish   system,  we  find   the 
twenty-seven  sentences  or  dictates  of  Pope  Gregory 
VII. 
"8.  The  Pope  alone  can  use  imperial  ensigns. 

9.  All  princes  must  kiss  the  feet  of  the  Pope 
only. 

12.  That  it  is  lawful  for  him  to  depose  emperors. 

17.  That  no  chapter  or  book  is  canonical  without 
his  authority. 

19.  That  he  himself  ought  to  be  judged  by  no 
man. 


436        ROMANISM   A   POLITICAL    CORPORATION. 

27.  That  he  may  absolve  the  subjects  of  unjust 
men  from  fidelity  to  their  princes." 

Pope  Leo  III.  says,  "  That  the  church,  his 
spouse,  had  given  him  the  mitre  in  token  of  things 
spiritual ;  the  crown,  in  token  of  things  temporal : 
the  mitre  for  the  priesthood,  the  crown  for  the 
kingdom,  making  me  a  lieutenant  of  Him,  who 
hath  written  upon  his  thigh  and  his  vesture,  King 
of  kings  and  Lord  of  lords  ;  /  enjoy  alone  the 
plenitude  of  power,  that  others  may  say  of  me,  next 
to  God,  and  out  of  his  fulness  we  have  received." 

These  doctrines  are  brought  to  America,  and, 
although  not  written  in  our  statute-books,  nor  pro 
claimed  from  the  top  of  the  capitol,  yet  every 
"  cross "  on  the  splendid  cathedrals  and  popish 
chapels  in  this  country  ;  every  elevation  of  the 
"  host"  by  the  bishops  and  priests  before  the  eyes 
of  the  crowding  multitudes  which  throng  them ; 
every  sermon  on  the  Sabbath  which  teaches  implicit 
obedience  to  the  Pope  ;  every  oath  of  every  Jesuit 
and  prelate,  and  all  the  solemn  binding  vows  of 
the  millions  of  their  adherents,  proclaim,  as  with 
the  voice  of  a  trumpet,  these  dangerous  am 
unchangeable  edicts. 

In  the  book  called  "  Three  Books  of  the  Sacn 


KOMANISM   A  POLITICAL   CORPORATION.        437 

Ceremonies  of  the  Holy  Roman  Church,"  printed  at 
Cologne,  1571,  it  is  seen  how  the  Pope  reigned 
in  his  days  of  greatest  temporal  splendor.  These 
were  his  orders : 

"  1.  The  Emperor  shall  hold  the  Pope's  stirrup. 

2.  The  Emperor  shall  lead  the  Pope's  horse. 

3.  The  Emperor  shall  bear  the  Pope's  chair  on 
his  shoulder. 

4.  The  Emperor  shall  bear  up  the  Pope's  train. 

5.  The  Emperor  shall  bear  the  basin  and  ewer 
to  the  Pope. 

6.  Let  the  Emperor  give  the  Pope  water. 

7.  The  Emperor  shall  carry  the  Pope's  first  dish. 

8.  The  Emperor  shall  carry  the  Pope's^zrs^  cup" 
This  is  the  man  who  claims  to  be  the  successor 

of  St.  Peter,  the  follower  of  our  blessed  Lord  and 
Saviour  Jesus  Christ,  who  said  to  his  disciples, 
"  Silver  and  gold  I  have  none!  "  0,  the  pride, 
the  ostentation,  the  guilty  ambition,  of  this  Roman 
god,  "  sitting  in  the  temple  of  God,  and  calling 
himself  God!" 

The  religion  of  Protestants  in  America,  as  well 
as  the  constitution,  oppose  not  the  hierarchal  pre 
tensions  of  Rome  only,  but  all  established  religions 
on  earth.  Both  Protestantism  and  the  constitution 


438         ROMANISM  A   POLITICAL   CORPORATION. 

deny  the  right  of  the  legislatures  to  enact  laws 
against  the  freedom  of  conscience  or  private  judg 
ment.  They  deny  that  the  majority  has  any  power 
over  the  minority  in  these  matters  which  belong  to 
God  alone.  No  mortal  has  this  right ;  and  whoever 
assumes  it,  be  he  monarch  or  priest,  is  a  base  and 
impious  tyrant,  against  whom  rise  up  the  laws  of 
heaven,  and  the  conscious  reason  of  man. 

They  who  peopled  our  soil,  and  fought  on  the 
battle-fields  of  the  Revolution,  —  the  illustrious  and 
heroic  representatives  of  the  first  American  Con 
gress,  who  legislated  our  freedom,  with  Washington 
at  their  head, — felt  the  strong  impulse  of  Protestant 
principles,  and  imbued  the  immortal  instrument  of 
the  constitution  with  those  principles,  and  thus 
established  the  glorious  edifice  of  civil  and  reli 
gious  liberty.  Every  true  American  patriot  changed 
his  allegiance  to  every  foreign  government,  and 
denied  the  right  to  any  civil  authority  or  priestly 
usurper  to  trample  on  these  native  principles,  or 
legislate  away  the  rights  of  conscience.  This 
denial,  by  the  American  inhabitants,  with  the 
exception  of  the  Roman  Catholics,  was  made  even 
before  the  adoption  of  the  constitution.  But  the 
papists  have  never  dared  to  deny  their  allegiance  to 


ROMANISM  A  POLITICAL   CORPORATION.        439 

the  foreign  hierarchy  of  Rome,  and  therefore  have 
never  denied  to  the  priesthood,  or  to  the  Pope,  this 
usurped  right  to  control  the  conscience,  or  to  think 
and  decide  as  they  may  dictate,  in  all  matters  of 
religion.  Why  ?  —  Their  dogmas  forbid  ;  the  pivot 
of  the  lips  of  the  priest,  on  which  their  salvation 
or  damnation  turns,  and  all  the  inextricable  and  deep 
web  of  superstitious  mummeries  in  which  they  are 
immersed,  sealed  by  "  infallibility,"  forbid.  Their 
souls,  and  consequently  even  the  disposal  of  their 
bodies,  are  not  their  own.  Freedom  of  conscience 
being  in  the  hands  of  the  priest,  and  the  priest  in 
the  hands  of  the  Pope,  all  the  papists  in  this  coun 
try,  unless  a  little  too  much  Americanized,  form 
one  great  army,  and  move  as  a  unit  under  the  dic 
tation  of  the  priest.  They  are  here,  therefore, 
what,  in  spirit  and  in  the  principles  of  their 
system,  they  were  under  Raymond,  Godfrey,  Tan- 
cred  ;  what  they  were  at  the  siege  of  Rochelle 
under  the  cardinal  minister  of  France,  when,  for 
twelve  tedious  months,  the  Protestants  endured 
their  unrelenting  persecution  and  cruelties  ;  what 
they  were  when  the  fires  of  Smithfield,  under  the 
reign  of  bloody  Mary,  lighted  up  England,  and 
multitudes  of  Protestants  perished ;  what  they 


440         ROMANISM   A  POLITICAL   CORPORATION. 

were  on  St.  Bartholomew's  night,  when  they  mur 
dered  more  than  sixty  thousand  Protestants ; 
what  they  were  under  the  Inquisition ;  what 
they  are  in  Rome,  in  Italy,  in  the  armies  of 
the  Austrian  and  French  tyrants,  bayoneting 
the  patriot  sons  who  venture  to  breathe  the 
aspirations  of  liberty ;  what  in^Spain,  in  Portugal, 
and  wherever  the  priests  hold  their  conscience,  and 
dictate  their  ready  obedience  and  movements. 


CHAPTER    V. 

THE  Pope's  power,  which  grants  pardon,  forgives 
sins,  past,  present,  and  to  come,  is  in  full  force 
here.  He  pardons  rebellion  and  high  treason ; 
dispenses  with  oaths,  promises,  or  vows.  And, 
though  a  subject  take  one  thousand  or  five  hundred 
thousand  oaths  to  support  the  civil  government, 
if  it  is  not  a  Roman  Catholic  government  there  can 
be  no  possible  security  for  his  allegiance. 

Is  there  an  American  who  will  say,  in  the  face  of 
these  facts,  that  the  system  of  Popery  is  favorable 
to  civil  and  religious  freedom  ?  Is  there  one  who 
will  deny  that  its  dogmas  and  practices  are  opposed 
to  the  principles  of  that  constitution,  which  are 
dear  to  freemen  as  their  hearts'  blood  ? 

Not  merely  the  Pope,  but  the  priests,  can  forgive 
sins.  The  priests  are  the  monarchists  ;  they  are 
the  hierarchy  of  Rome  ;  they  are  the  church,  and 
the  church  is  the  foe  of  divine  truth  and  human 

liberty. 

19* 


442         ROMANISM   A   POLITICAL    CORPORATION. 

When  Rome  ceases  to  be  consolidated,  its  system 
has  ended.  It  has  no  vitality,  but  through  the 
great  tyrant,  who  "  calls  himself  God,"  and  rules 
on  the  ruins  of  religion,  liberty,  and  law.  Protest 
ants,  on  the  other  hand,  cannot  consolidate,  in  the 
same  manner,  under  one  supreme  head,  who  unites 
church  and  state.  They  own  no  such  head.  The 
Pilgrims  of  Plymouth,  the  Huguenots  of  South 
Carolina,  the  disciples  of  Wm.  Penn,  the  Hol 
landers  who  colonized  Manhattan,  were  all  alike 
Protestants.  But  it  was  their  freedom  to  think  and 
choose  each  the  mode  of  worship  it  adopted,  and 
they  were  each  and  all  resolutely  and  unanimously 
united  in  the  founding  of  American  liberty. 

Bishop  England,  a  most  crafty  Jesuit,  in  his  book 
transmitted  from  Rome,  26th  March,  1833,  speak 
ing  in  praise  of  the  Pope's  encyclical  letter  against 
liberty,  says  :  "In  the  venerable  successor  of  St. 
Peter  I  behold  the  former  active,  zealous,  and 
enlightened  prefect  of  the  propaganda,  whose  deep 
interest  and  laborious  exertions  in  the  concerns  of 
the  Church  of  the  United  States  have  been  so  bene 
ficial."  He  further  says,  "  that  stripping  the  Holy 
See  of  its  temporal  independence  would  inflict  a 
deep  wound  on  religion."  And,  in  addressing  the 


ROMANISM  A   POLITICAL   CORPORATION.         443 

cardinals,  whom  this  same  Bishop  England  styles 
' '  the  venerable  and  eminent  senate  of  the  Christian 
world,"  he  further  wrote  :  "  That  the  grain  of 
mustard-seed  (the  Papal  Church  in  America),  cul 
tivated  with  success,  under  the  auspices  of  Pius 
the  Sixth,  has  mightily  grown  to  a  rapid  tree,  and, 
protected  by  Gregory  XVI.,  is  now  extending  its 
branches  above  an  enlightened  community,  re 
posing  in  peace  under  its  shadow." 

To  show  further  that  this  political  corporation  of 
Rome  does  what  it  dares  and  can  do  to  subvert  our 
liberties,  we  ask  you,  Americans,  in  conclusion,  to 
read  the  letter  of  Bishop  England,  written  from 
Rome,  upon  American  nationality,  soon  after  the 
news  of  the  burning  of  the  Massachusetts  convent 
reached  that  city,  and  which  was  published  under 
his  direction,  in  Charleston,  South  Carolina. 

"  How  often,"  says  he,  "  do  I  wish  my  voice 
could  be  heard  across  the  Atlantic,  proclaiming  to 
your  meetings  what  I  have  seen  and  heard  since  I 
left  you  !  A  people  valuing  freedom,  and  in  the  plen 
itude  of  its  enjoyment,  destroying  religion,  nay, 
having  nearly  effected  its  destruction,  by  reducing  to 
practice  here  the  principles  which  the  Veterists  and 
Conciliators  contend  for  among  you. 


444        ROMANISM  A  POLITICAL   CORPORATION. 

"  The  Americans  are  loud  in  their  reprobation  of 
your  servile  aristocracy,  who  would  degrade  religion 
by  placing  it  under  the  control  of  a  king's  minister; 
and  could  your  aristocracy  and  place-hunters  form 
the  state  of  Catholicity  here,  they  would  inveigh 
against  the  Democrats,  who  would  degrade  religion 
by  placing  its  concerns  under  the  control  of  a  mob  ; 
and  I  am  perfectly  convinced  they  are  right. 

"  I  am  convinced  that  if  these  gentlemen  of 
the  Irish  hierarchy,  who  are  suspected,  and  I  fear 
with  good  reason,  of  being  favorable  to  Velotistical 
arrangements,  had  each  one  month's  experience 
of  the  operations  of  the  principle  here,  their  good 
sense,  and  piety,  and  zeal  for  religion,  would  compel 
them  to  suffer  inconvenience  rather  than  commit  the 
fate  of  the  religion  of  millions  under  their  charge, 
and  myriads  yet  unborn,  to  the  influence  of  that  most 
destructive  principle,  to  release  themselves  and  their 
flocks  from  the  unmitigated  persecution  they  now 
suffer.  The  people  here  claim  and  endeavor  to  as 
sume  the  same  power  which  the  clauses  and  conditions 
would  give  the  Crown  among  you,  though  not  to  the 
same  extent.  The  consequence  is  that  religion  is 
neglected,  degraded^  despised,  and  insulted,  with 
impunity" 


ROMANISM   A   POLITICAL   CORPORATION.         445 

This  bold  assertion  of  Bishop  England  against 
* c  responsibility  to  the  people  as  the  great  principle 
of  the  American  system,"  is  confirmed  by  that  of 
all  other  leaders  in  the  design  upon  American 
liberty.  The  Catholic  Telegraph,  published  in 
Cincinnati,  the  contemporary  of  Cardinal  England, 
spoke  thus  of  our  republicanism :  * '  The  system 
may  be  very  fine  in  theory,  very  fit  for  imitation  on 
the  part  of  those  who  seek  the  power  of  the  mob,  in 
contradistinction  to  justice  and  the  public  interest. 
But  it  is  not  of  a  nature  to  invite  the  reflecting 
part  of  the  world,  and  shows,  at  least,  that  it  has 
evils." 

This  foreign  emissary  and  his  coadjutors,  the 
Jesuits  and  agents,  who  are  under  a  bond  to  the 
Pope,  dare  to  announce  to  our  faces  that  the  burn 
ing  of  one  convent  in  New  England,  by  a  mob, 
"  is  one  fact  in  condemnation  of  the  system  of 
American  institutions,  confirmed  lately  by  numerous 
other  proofs." 

Bishop  Flagett,  of  Bardstown  College,  Ken 
tucky,  gives  to  his  patrons  abroad  this  plain  hint 
at  their  ULTERIOR  POLITICAL  DESIGN,  and  that  no  less 
than  the  entire  subversion  of  our  republican  govern 
ment.  In  regard  to  the  difficulty  of  Catholic  mis- 


ROMANISM  A   POLITICAL   CORPORATION. 

sionaries  with  the  Indians,  he  says  the  greatest  is, 
"  their   continued   traffic   with   the   whites,   WHICH 

CANNOT    BE   HINDERED    SO    LONG    AS   THE    REPUBLICAN 
GOVERNMENT  SHALL  SUBSIST." 

Do  Americans  know  that,  at  the  point  of  the 
bayonet,  every  individual  must  kneel  or  retreat,  at 
the  sight  of  a  Catholic  procession  of  the  idolatrous 
"host,"  in  every  country  in  the  American  world, 
as  well  as  papal  Europe,  where  the  power  of  the 
Romish  system  prevails?  What  though  Papists 
are  idolatrous  ;  what  though  Bishop  England  says 
11  NOTHING  is  MORE  OFFENSIVE  TO  CATHOLICS  THAN  A 
TRANSGRESSION  OF  THIS  PRINCIPLE,"  that  is,  kneel 
ing  to  a  popish  procession  ?  What  though  it  is  the 
custom  among  the  European  slavish  masses  to  wor 
ship  a  "  wafer,"  which  the  priest  (who  secretly 
laughs  at  the  credulous  ignorance  of  his  dupes) 
tells  them  is  converted,  by  a  few  mumbling  words 
which  he  utters,  into  a  real  God ;  what  though  the 
priests  close  the  Bible,  and  their  poor  blind  sub 
jects  know  no  better  than  to  permit  this  despotism  ? 
Are  Americans  to  be  compelled  to  take  off  their 
hats  to  such  a  ridiculous  deception, —  to  consent  to 
be  fools,  and  kneel  down  to  such  a  monstrous  im 
posture  ?  And  yet  an  Irish  Papist,  some  months 


itOMANISM   A   POLITICAL   CORPORATION.         447 

ago,  at  a  Popish  procession  in  Cincinnati,  had  the 
astonishing  impudence  to  assault  a  Protestant  and 
knock  off  his  hat,  because  he  chose  to  maintain  his 
independence  !  How  many  hats  will  be  knocked 
off  when  Rome  gets  to  be  more  powerful  ?  If  this 
is  the  first  lesson  to  Americans,  what  will  be  the 
second,  and  the  last  ? 

The  Canon  Law  is  Rome's  Magna  Charta. 
Robinson,  the  historian  (a  favorite  author  of  Ro 
manists),  says,  "  The  Pope's  public  political  end  was 
to  be  absolute  ruler  of  all  the  priesthood  ;  and, 
through  them,  of  all  mankind."  "  It  is  a  Jewish 
Christianity,  having  in  it  the  seed  of  a  hierar 
chy;"  "they  sunk  the  people  to  elevate  the 
order;"  "the  order  created  a  master-like  Aaron." 
"  If  this  dispute,"  says  he,  "  had  been  only  about 
wearing  the  bells  and  pomegranates,  as  Aaron  had 
done,  and  a  breast-plate,  that  none  but  a  Jew 
could  read,  it  might  have  created  mirth;  but  it 
took  a  very  serious  turn  when  it  was  perceived 
that  Aaron  had  under  all  his  fine  things  a  KNIFE 
and  a  BLOOD  BASIN." 

Abbe  De  Pradt  says  :  "  Jesuitism  is  EMPIRE  BY 
RELIGION.  The  general  of  the  Jesuits  is  a  veritable 
King."  The  Pope  is  master  of  the  general.  He 


448         ROMANISM   A  POLITICAL   CORPORATION. 

says,  "  it  is  organized  intolerance."  Who  is  chief 
of  this  immense  family,  this  militia  present  every 
where  ?  THE  POPE.  He  counts  more  subjects  than 
any  sovereign  ;  more  than  even  many  sovereigns 
together.  IF  THE  WHOLE  WORLD  WERE  CATHOLIC, 

THEN  THE  POPE  WOULD  COMMAND  THE  WHOLE  WORLD." 

"  Catholicism,"  this  Abbe  De  Pradt  further 
says,  "  is  not  organized  like  other  worships.  The 
latter  have  no  common  centre  ;  no  exclusive  source 
from  whence  flows  power  in  every  religious  society." 
THEY  HAVE  NO  ROME. 


CHAPTEE    VI. 

Now,  my  countrymen,  by  the  very  highest 
Roman  Catholic  authorities  on  earth,  we  have 
exposed  the  design  and  tendency  of  this  corpora 
tion  to  subvert  civil  and  religious  liberty  and  law. 
Rome  counts  in  her  communion  more  than  one 
hundred  and  fifty  millions  throughout  the  world. 
The  entire  Protestant  world  now  exceeds  but  little 
upwards  of  one  hundred  and  twenty  millions. 
Rome  has  one,  and  only  one,  centre,  and  boasts  of 
her  unity,  indivisibility,  and  common  principles  of 
the  great  tyrant  who  dwells  in  the  "Eternal  City." 
Protestants  have  no  central  head,  and  are  never 
under  such  ecclesiastical  rule.  Yet,  in  the  last 
three  hundred  years,  where  but  with  Protestants, 
and  under  Protestant  governments,  have  science, 
enterprise,  commerce,  agriculture,  order,  law,  and 
liberty,  the  inventions  of  mechanical  genius,  na 
tional  and  individual  prosperity,  flourished  in  all 


450        ROMANISM   A   POLITICAL    CORPORATION. 

their  beauty,  grandeur,  and  successful  triumphs  ? 
And  here  in  the  United  States,  where  free  institu 
tions  and  liberty  are  best  enjoyed,  have  not  these 
developments  been  most  gratifying  and  surprising  ? 

The  records  of  the  world  respond,  Nowhere  be 
side.  Place  not  only  the  United  States,  but  free 
England,  Holland,  or  Scotland,  in  contrast  with 
Catholic  Italy,  Catholic  Spain,  Catholic  Germany, 
and  Catholic  Ireland,  and  what  a  striking  contrast 
immediately  presents  itself !  When  Luther  blew 
his  trumpet,  nations  started  up  from  the  slumber 
of  ages,  burst  the  iron  fetters  which  had  chained 
them,  and  came  forth  into  the  light  of  heaven, 
and,  rejoicing  in  its  beams  and  the  energies  of 
their  new  manhood,  stood  erect,  and  commenced 
their  march  to  national  and  individual  independ 
ence,  and  the  free  enjoyment  of  the  rights  which 
God  and  nature  gave  them. 

Who  can  estimate  the  value  of  this  deliverance  ? 
It  is  beyond  all  price.  Its  magnificent  results 
over  Protestant  nations  are  known  and  felt  in  free 
government,  free  conscience,  free  speech,  free 
press,  the  diffusion  of  knowledge,  the  expansion 
of  the  human  faculties,  the  happiness  of  families, 
the  triumphs  of  peaceful  arts  and  industry,  and  all 


ROMANISM   A   POLITICAL   CORPORATION.         451 

the  prosperity  and  glory  which  are  shed  on  nations 
and  their  members. 

America  we  hold  to  be  Bible  ground,  and  her 
institutions  and  principles  are  suited  to  all  religious 
sects  who  do  not  claim  to  be  infallible  ;  but  the 
system  of  Rome,  by  its  own  documents,  avows  its 
plan  to  alter  and  prohibit  books,  and  YET  KEEP  THEIR 
TITLES  ;  to  change  the  ideas  of  authors  ;  to  educate 
a  political  influence,  which,  "  in  ten,  or,  at  most, 
twenty  years,"  they  have  said,  was  to  wield  or  con 
trol  the  destinies  of  this  country;  and,  in  a  word, 
"  to  dictate  to  the  souls  OF  MYRIADS  OF  IMMORTAL 
BEINGS,"  and  chain  down  the  human  faculties. 

Our  fathers  declared  in  the  Continental  Congress 
that  «  THE  CATHOLIC  RELIGION  HAD  DEL 
UGED  ENGLAND  IN  BLOOD  ;  "  and  they  rose,  in 
the  might  and  spirit  of  unconquerable  patriots,  for 
the  defence  of  their  religious  rights,  that  you, 
Americans,  might  be  able  now  to  vindicate  and 
perpetuate  them.  Wait  not  till  the  Rubicon  is 
passed !  The  Jesuits  are  within  our  lovely  en 
closures.  What  countries,  where  they  have  gained 
a  foothold,  have  they  not  ruined  ?  What  monster 
errors  do  they  not  promulgate  ?  What  insidious 
plots  do  they  not  contrive  ?  They  are  already 


452         ROMANISM   A   POLITICAL    CORPORATION. 

combined  with  certain  political  leaders  to  distract 
this  country.  They  are  in  our  state  politics. 
They  are  in  our  Washington  counsels.  Have  they 
not  already  shocked  the  community  by  burning  our 
Bibles  ?  Have  they  not  ejected  it  from  our  schools? 
Have  they  not  defaced  our  school-books,  and  de 
nounced  our  beautiful  system  of  education,  and 
American  schools,  as  the  "nurseries  of  hell"? 
Have  they  not  attempted  to  gag  free  speech, —  to 
seize  the  ballot-box,  and  assault  our  citizens  in  the 
exercise  of  their  legal  franchise  ?  Have  they  not 
demanded  the  public  funds,  to  support  their  secta 
rian  education  ?  And,  with  astonishing  boldness, 
has  not  their  leading  prelate,  acting  in  concert 
with  all  the  popish  bishops  in  this  country,  dictated 
to  his  political  partisans  in  the  legislature  to  alter 
the  laws  to  suit  his  Jesuitical  and  ambitious  de 
signs,  to  divert  to  his  personal  use,  and  in  his  legal 
right,  the  whole  property  of  the  church  ?  Are  not 
these  men  busy,  and  do  they  not  act  as  spies  in  all 
our  state  and  federal  elections  ?  And  yet  how 
feeble  is  the  voice  of  Americans !  how  silent  are 
many  of  the  presses  of  the  country  !  While  these 
foreign  agencies  are  at  work  ;  while  dangers 
threaten  from  foes  open  and  secret,  alert  and  sub- 


ROMANISM   A   POLITICAL    CORPORATION.         453 

tie,  bound  by  oaths  to  make  every  interest,  civil, 
political,  and  religious,  subserve  one  grand  end, 
—  the  supremacy  of  a  foreign  hierarchy  in  our 
midst,  —  these  presses  lift  up  no  voice,  speak  in 
no  indignant  spirit  of  liberty.  They  are  like  a 
dead  weight  to  the  majestic  wheel  of  the  republic. 
They  breathe  not  a  whisper  of  warning  against  the 
designs  of  Catiline.  They  refuse  to  repel  his 
insidious  and  impudent  treacheries.  They  affect 
not  to  see,  either  through  fear  or  through  parti 
sanship,  the  footsteps  of  the  foreign  intruder 
within  the  bowers  of  our  happy  homes ;  or  the 
wily  serpent  coiling  among  the  pleasant  flowers, 
and  stately  foliage,  and  magnificent  cypress,  of 
our  virgin  scenery.  They  wink  at  the  stratagems 
of  Sylla,  but  condemn  the  merits  of  Fabius.  They 
spurn  the  patriotic  indignation  of  the  Gracchi,  and 
take  to  their  embraces  the  plotting  Tarquins.  With 
the  calculations  of  the  political  chess-board,  their 
fame  and  independence  are  nicely  balanced  by  a 
successful  move,  or  aristocratically  interwoven  with 
the  price  of  stocks  in  the  market  of  the  highest 
bidder.  Non  tali  auxilio. 

The  patriotic  heart  of  the  nation  demands  no 
questionable  Gloucesters,  but  magnanimous  Syd- 


454        ROMANISM  A   POLITICAL   CORPORATION. 

neys,  and  heroic  Hampdens,  to  defend  the  proud 
battlements  of  our  liberties,  and  to  stand  in  the 
breach  on  the  invasion  of  the  enemy.  In  every 
community,  and  often  in  responsible  and  prominent 
stations,  there  are  men  who  either  will  not  or  can 
not  see  danger  till  their  house  is  in  flames  over 
their  heads,  or  the  assassin  has  effected  his  pur 
pose.  The  time  is  approaching  when  no  dubious 
action  will  be  tolerated  ;  when  the  love  of  country, 
and  the  calls  of  patriotism,  will  awaken  the  most 
sluggish  apathy.  The  field  is  chosen  by  the  pa 
pacy.  The  plans  are  laid.  The  agents  are  com 
missioned  not  to  faint  or  halt.  America  is  to  be 
the  field  on  which  the  last  great  battle  of  the  world 
is  to  be  fought.  The  struggles  of  Rome  will  be  in 
proportion  to  the  value  of  the  object,  and  the 
greatness  and  majestic  splendor  of  the  prize. 
Never  were  motives  more  impulsive  and  command 
ing  ;  never  was  an  issue  when  the  victory  will  be 
more  coveted  and  magnificent,  and  the  results  so 
striking  and  extensive.  But  let  this  foreign  influ 
ence  beware !  The  spirit  which  animated  our 
ancestors  glows  with  unabated  fervor.  In  the 
words  of  the  great  orator  of  Yale,  "  Their  sons 
scorn  to  be  slaves,"  nor  will  they  be  circumvented 


ROMANISM  A   POLITICAL   CORPORATION.         455 

or  repelled  in  the  background  by  monks  and 
priestcraft.  Let  not  the  calm  forebode  the  storm  ! 
The  American  "  sky  is  charged  with  lightnings 
fiercer  than  ever  flashed  over  that  which  canopies 
us  all."  Let  not  the  fatal  step  be  taken,  nor  the 
hand  of  the  papal  tyrant  dare  to  press  too  closely 
on  the  American  heart !  While  the  '  *  light  of  free 
dom  is  glowing  with  undiminished  fires,"  may  we 
hope  to  succeed  in  this  grand  battle  of  light 
against  darkness,  —  of  liberty  against  the  com 
bined  forces  of  priests  and  despots ! 


ROMANISM  OPPOSED  TO  OUR  LIBERTIES, 


CHAPTER    I. 

A  RECOGNITION  of  the  Protestant  religion  as  the 
support  of  this  government  has  been  made  by  all 
who  have  administered  it  in  the  true  spirit  of  repub 
lican  freedom.  Washington,  Madison,  Monroe, 
Adams,  Jackson,  and  Harrison,  offered  supplications 
to  God  "  to  make  our  country  continue  the  object 
of  his  divine  care  and  gracious  benediction."  So 
do  the  principles  of  the  American  party  date  their 
origin  with  Luther,  and  were  witnessed  in  the  flames 
which  made  martyrs  of  Cranmer  and  Latimer. 
These  principles  came  to  our  shores  with  the  Prot 
estant  Huguenots  of  Florida,  who  were  there  mur 
dered  by  the  Spanish  Inquisition  for  "  seeking  free 
dom  to  worship  God."  They  afterwards  passed 
over  with  the  Mayflower,  when  the  Pilgrims  landed 


ROMANISM   OPPOSED   TO    OUR   LIBERTIES.        457 

on  Plymouth  Rock.  They  appeared  prominently 
in  all  the  Revolutionary  battles ;  they  were  em 
bodied  in  the  Declaration  of  Independence,  which 
our  fathers  signed,  and  then  sealed  with  their  blood. 

When  it  was  resolved,  in  the  second  session  of 
the  Continental  Congress,  1774,  "  to  open  to-morrow 
with  prayer  at  the  Carpenters'  Hall,"  Rev.  Mr. 
Duche,  whom  Mr.  Adams  called  the  most  eloquent 
man  in  America,  made  the  first  prayer,  in  these 
precise  words : 

"  0  Lord,  our  Heavenly  Father,  high  and  mighty 
King  of  kings  and  Lord  of  lords,  who  dost  from  thy 
throne  behold  all  the  dwellers  on  earth,  and  reignest 
with  power  supreme  and  uncontrolled  over  all  king 
doms,  empires,  and  governments,  look  down  in 
mercy,  we  beseech  thee,  on  these  American  States, 
who  have  fled  to  thee  from  the  rod  of  the  oppressor, 
and  thrown  themselves  on  thy  gracious  protection, 
desiring  to  be  henceforth  dependent  only  on  thee. 
To  thee  have  they  appealed  for  the  righteousness  of 
their  cause  ;  to  thee  do  they  now  look  up  for  that 
countenance  and  support  which  thou  alone  canst 
give.  Take  them,  therefore,  heavenly  Father,  un 
der  thy  nurturing  care  ;  give  them  wisdom  in  coun 
cil,  and  valor  in  the  field  ;  defeat  the  malicious 
20 


458       ROMANISM    OPPOSED    TO    OUR   LIBERTIES. 

designs  of  our  cruel  adversaries  ;  convince  them  of 
the  unrighteousness  of  their  cause  ;  and  if  they  will 
still  persist  in  their  sanguinary  purpose,  0,  let  the 
voice  of  thine  own  unerring  justice,  sounding  in 
their  hearts,  constrain  them  to  drop  the  weapons  of 
war  from  their  unnerved  hands  in  the  day  of  battle. 
Be  thou  present,  0  God  of  wisdom,  and  direct  the 
councils  of  this  honorable  assembly  ;  enable  them 
to  settle  things  on  the  best  and  surest  foundation, 
that  the  scene  of  blood  may  be  speedily  closed,  that 
order,  harmony,  and  peace,  may  be  effectually  re 
stored,  and  truth  and  justice,  religion  and  piety, 
prevail  and  flourish  amongst  thy  people.  Preserve 
the  health  of  their  bodies  and  the  vigor  of  their 
minds  ;  shower  down  on  them  and  the  millions  they 
here  represent  such  temporal  blessings  as  thou  seest 
expedient  for  them  in  this  world,  and  crown  them 
with  everlasting  glory  in  the  world  to  come.  All 
this  we  ask  in  the  name  and  throiigh  the  merits  of 
Jesus  Christ,  thy  Son  and  our  Saviour.  Amen  !  " 
At  the  close  of  the  Eevolution,  26th  of  August, 
1783,  Washington's  first  words,  when  he  appeared 
before  Congress,  were  a  grateful  acknowledgment  to 
God,  who  had  guided  the  Americans  to  battle  and 
victory.  And  so  he  subsequently  expressed  himself. 


ROMANISM   OPPOSED   TO   OUR   LIBERTIES.        459 

when  he  resigned  as  commander  in  chief  of  the 
army,  23d  of  December,  that  same  year.  Upon 
the  memorable  event  of  his  inaugural  as  President 
of  the  nation,  he  said  : 

* '  In  this  first  official  act,  my  fervent  supplication 
is  to  that  Almighty  Being,  that  his  benediction  may 
consecrate  to  the  liberties  and  happiness  of  the  peo 
ple  of  the  United  States  a  government  instituted 
by  themselves.  No  people  can  be  bound  to  acknowl 
edge  and  adore  the  invisible  hand  which  conducts 
the  affairs  of  men  more  than  the  people  of  the 
United  States  ;  and  the  destiny  of  the  republican 
model  of  government  is  justly  considered  as  deeply, 
perhaps  finally,  staked  on  the  experiment  intrusted 
to  the  hands  of  the  American  people." 

When  the  convention  sat  to  frame  our  constitu 
tion,  and  when  all  the  governments  of  modern  Eu 
rope  had  been  examined  without  finding  one  suited 
to  the  condition  of  the  American  people,  Dr.  Frank 
lin  arose  and  addressed  the  president  upon  the  im 
portance  of  prayer  ;  that,  as  "God  governs  the 
affairs  of  men,"  no  blessing  could  be  expected  upon 
their  deliberations  without  it ;  and  that  the  consti 
tution  was  the  result  of  the  infinite  wisdom  of  the 
Almighty,  and  beyond  the  powers  of  any  mortal 


460       ROMANISM    OPPOSED    TO    OUR   LIBERTIES. 

assembly  of  men,  is  the  indubitable  conviction  of 
the  American  people. 

Thirteen  years  before  the  Declaration  of  Inde 
pendence,  Pownal,  who  had  been  Governor  of 
three  of  the  colonies,  made  this  prophecy  of 
America's  destiny : 

"  A  nation  to  whom  all  nations  will  come ; 
a  power  whom  all  powers  of  Europe  will  court  to 
civil  and  commercial  alliances ;  a  people  to  whom 
the  remnants  of  all  ruined  people  will  fly  ;  whom 
the  oppressed  and  injured  of  every  nation  will  seek 
for  refuge,"  he  exclaims,  "ACTUATE  YOUR  SOVE 
REIGNTY,  EXERCISE  THE  POWERS  AND  DUTIES  OF  YOUR 
THRONE." 

And,  now,  without  a  monarch,  an  army,  or  an 
aristocracy,  it  will  defy  every  Judas  and  Cain, 
foreign  or  native,  who  interposes  between  the 
rights,  the  honor,  and  the  religion,  of  the  American 
branch  of  the  Anglo-Saxon  race. 

Our  national  interest  and  Christianity  are  insep 
arable  ;  and  as  the  people  of  the  land  of  Bunker 
Hill,  who  built  and  paid  for  their  churches,  resisted 
the  right  of  a  foreign  Andros  to  ring  their  bells,  so 
will  Americans,  who  claim  the  Protestant  as  their 
religion,  resist  the  further  aggression  upon  their 


ROMANISM    OPPOSED   TO    OUR   LIBERTIES.        461 

schools,  their  property,  and  their  institutions,  by  the 
political  Romanism,  of  which  they  justly  complain. 
At  a  recent  meeting  in  Hope  Chapel,  New  York 
city,  Dr.  0.  A.  Brownson,  editor  of  the  Roman 
Catholic  Review,  said :  "  We  Catholics  are  here  a 
missionary  people.  We  are  here  to  Catholicize  the 
country.  It  remains  for  us  Catholics  to  make  it 
morally,  intellectually,  spiritually  great.  We  are 
here  God's  chosen  instruments  for  that  purpose." 
Mr.  McMasters,  another  fierce  Romish  editor,  said : 
"  Catholics  were  here  not  only  to  contribute  to  sup 
port  their  religion,  and  thereby  their  priests,  but  to 
make  the  people  understand  it.  If  they  did  not  do 
so,  they  would  be  wiped  out  from  the  land  in  a  sea 
of  blood."  How  are  the  poor  papists  to  understand 
it,  Americans,  when  the  priests  keep  them  in  igno 
rance,  by  shutting  out  the  light  of  truth  from  their 
minds  ?  The  leading  French  journal  of  the  3rd  of 
April,  this  year,  speaking  for  the  Romish  church, 
says  :  "  Railroads  are  not  a  progress ;  telegraphs  are 
an  analogous  invention  ;  the  freedom  of  industry  is 
not  progress ;  machines  derange  all  agricultural 
labor ;  industrial  discoveries  are  a  sign  of  abase 
ment,  not  of  grandeur."  The  following  is  from 
the  Univers,  their  most  influential  paper  in  all 


462       ROMANISM   OPPOSED   TO    OUR  LIBERTIES. 

Europe:  —  "  To  make  Rome  the  District  of  Co 
lumbia  for  the  whole  world,  and  the  Pope  the 
interpreter  of  the  constitution  of  the  United 
States."  This  declaration  of  the  above  journal 
expresses,  of  course,  the  avowed  sentiments  of  the 
papists  now  in  our  republic. 

Is  it  not  time,  Americans,  to  expose  this  worn- 
out  foolery,  when  the  great  aim  of  this  foreign  con 
cern  is  to  say  mass  over  our  nation's  soul  ?  With 
papal  baptism,  papal  matrimony,  and  papal  rulers, 
what  is  to  be  the  effect  on  our  country,  unless  Prot 
estantism  counteract  such  teaching  over  the  minds 
of  the  papal  masses  ? 

We  have  shown,  in  another  chapter,  that  their 
device  of  baptism  is  a  most  entangling  scheme  to 
proselyte  and  extort  money,  and  make  its  votaries 
slaves.  That  confession  to  the  priests,  in  order  to 
salvation,  is  an  invasion  upon  personal  liberty,  and 
all  sorts  of  human  liberty.  That  the  Church  of 
Rome  does  interfere  with  liberty  of  thought,  by 
denying  the  right  to  read,  buy,  or  circulate  books. 
And  by  its  decrees  in  council  it  has  taken  the 
Word  of  God  out  of  its  system,  and  made  it  a 
criminal  offence  for  any  subject  of  their  church  to 
have  anything  to  do  with  that  holy  book !  By 


ROMANISM   OPPOSED    TO    OUR  LIBERTIES.       463 

their  Catechism  of  the  Council  of  Trent,  p.  313 
this  Romish  system  says,  "  Without  the  presence  of 
the  parish  priest ',  or  some  other  priest  commissioned 
by  him,  or  by  the  ordinary,  and  two  or  three  wit 
nesses^  there  can  be  no  marriage"  They  thereby 
declare  that  none  but  Catholic  priests  can  perform 
the  marriage  ceremony.  They  have  made  this  civil 
rite,  then,  a  sacrament.  They  can  dispense  with 
prohibitions,  or  make  them  to  suit  all  circumstances ; 
and  have,  for  political  purposes,  removed  the  im 
pediment,  and  married  brothers  and  sisters !  The 
Church  of  Rome,  therefore,  begins  with  a  rite  to 
make  subjects,  at  birth  ;  to  secure  them  through 
marriage  ;  to  rule  them  through  life ;  and  by  indul 
gences  and  absolution  in  the  Confessional  to  license 
practices  of  all  iniquity ;  and  sends  them  to  Para 
dise,  or  denies  it,  in  proportion  to  the  amount  of 
money  paid. 

We  contend,  as  a  Protestant  people,  that  no 
power  but  the  Word  of  God,  or  argument,  and 
human  persuasion,  can  be  lawfully  used  to  influence 
the  conscience  of  any  man.  The  constitution 
regards  the  religion  of  men  so  far  as  to  require 
men  to  believe  in  God,  and  in  the  existence  of 
future  punishment  and  reward.  Without  this 


464       ROMANISM   OPPOSED   TO   OUR   LIBERTIES. 

belief  there  is  no  sanctity  to  oaths.  But  the  Romish 
confessional  can  absolve  oaths,  and  render  any  law 
of  our  country  a  nullity  which  is  opposed  by  the 
priest ;  and,  consequently,  the  priest  wields  a  secret 
power  above  our  government  and  the  laws  of  the 
land.  There  is  not  a  thief,  there  is  not  a  murderer, 
or  a  perjurer,  or  an  incendiary,  or  a  traitor,  if  he  is 
a  papist,  but  can  go  the  very  next  day,  or  within  a 
week,  after  the  committal  of  the  crime,  and  get 
absolution  of  the  priest.  If  a  papist  swears  in  a 
court  of  justice  on  our  Protestant  Bible,  he  regards 
it  as  having  no  binding  force  on  his  conscience.  Is 
not,  then,  the  confessional  a  most  dangerous  and 
anti-republican  power?  The  idea  that  religious 
opinions  and  secular  trusts  have  no  connection,  and 
.  do  not  interfere  with  the  discharge  of  public  or  offi 
cial  duty,  has  been  a  sad  mistake  with  Protestants 
long  enough ;  and  to  this  mistake  or  error  the 
rapid  advancement  of  Romanism  may  partly  be 
ascribed.  Take  marriage  as  an  illustration.  Prot 
estants  hold  it  in  the  light  of  a  civil  contract,  of 
divine  institution,  but  not  peculiar  to  any  church. 
Catholics  make  it  a  sacrament.  The  people,  at 
first,  look  at  this  papal  rite  and  obligation  as  of 
very  small  consequence,  and  would  not  regard  it  in 
connection  with  a  man's  fitness  for  office,  whether 


ROMANISM    OPPOSED   TO    OUR   LIBERTIES.        465 

connection  with  a  man's  fitness  for  office,  whether 
his  opinion  was  for  or  against  it,  as  a  sacrament. 
But,  when  it  is  understood  that  the  descendants 
from  every  Protestant  marriage  in  this  country  are 
pronounced  by  that  church  illegitimate,  it  becomes 
a  matter  of  immense  consequence  to  look  at  the 
effect  of  the  system  in  connection  with  liberty. 

By  a  treaty,  or  concordat,  of  the  French  gov 
ernment  and  the  Pope,  Pius  VII.,  under  Napoleon 
Bonaparte,  in  1802,  it  was  agreed  to  reestablish  the 
cures  and  sees,  under  certain  conditions.  The  Pope 
declared  himself  very  grateful,  and  publicly  said 
he  owed  more  to  Napoleon  than  any  other,  next  to 
God.  But  the  laws  of  the  French  government  in 
regard  to  marriage  were  distressing  him,  and  in 
1807  he  sent  a  cardinal  from  Rome  to  Paris  to 
negotiate  the  difficulty.  Afterwards  the  discussion 
opened  at  Rome,  when  the  doctrine  that  no  mar- 
riage  was  real  or  valid  without  the  intervention  of 
a  priest  was  decided.  But,  finding  the  French  code 
was  extending  through  Europe,  he  despatched  in 
structions  to  his  church  to  counteract  the  immoral 
doctrine  of  marriage  as  a  civil  right.  The  accom 
panying  are  extracts  of  the  Pope's  letter  to  Poland, 
in  1808,  where  an  attempt  was  made  by  law  to  con 
20* 


466        ROMANISM    OPPOSED   TO    OUR   LIBERTIES. 

form  to  this  dogma.  "  Such  a  transaction,''  says 
the  Pope  (in  this  letter),  '*  proposed  by  a  Catholic 
prelate  to  a  royal  minister,  upon  a  subject  so  sacred, 
considered  in  its  consequences,  in  its  whole  tenor 
leads  directly  to  consequences  which  sectaries  have 
proposed  to  themselves,  namely,  to  make  Catholics 
and  bishops,  and  even  the  Pope  himself,  confess 
that  the  power  of  governing  men  is  indivisible. 
.  :*•'»•  ;.  For  a  Catholic  bishop  to  acknowl 
edge  in  Catholic  marriages,  civil  publications,  civil 
contracts,  civil  divorces,  civil  judgments,  is  to  grant 
the  prince  power  over  the  sacraments  and  discipline. 
It  is  to  admit  he  can  alter  the  forms  and  the  rites  ; 
can  derogate  from  the  canons ;  can  violate  ecclesias 
tical  liberty;  can  trouble  conscience ;  that  he  has, 
by  consequence,  power  over  things  ecclesiastical, 
essentially  privileged,  and  dependent  on  the  power 
of  the  Keys  ;  which  is  as  much  as  to  say,  he  can 
put  his  hand  in  the  censer,  and  make  his  laws  pre 
vail  over  the  laws  of  the  church.  The  bishop  shoald 
either  have  dissembled,  and  tolerated  a  disorder 
imposed  by  irresistible  force,  or  he  should  have 
informed  the  royal  minister  that  the  code,  so  far 
as  respects  marriage,  cannot  be  applied  to  Catholic 
marriages  in  Catholic  countries." 


CHAPTER    II. 

THEN  the  Pope  goes  on  to  say:  "If  we 
examine  the  history  of  nations,  we  shall  not  find 
a  Catholic  prince  suffering  to  be  imposed  on  his 
subjects  the  obligation  to  publish  their  marriage, 
or  discuss  its  validity  or  nullity  before  a  judge 
of  the  district.  If  pastoral  remonstrances  proved 
useless,  the  bishop  should  still  have  continued  to 
teach  well  the  flock  committed  to  his  care,  — 

"  1st.  That  there  is  no  marriage  if  it  is  not  con 
tracted  in  the  form  which  the  church  has  estab 
lished  to  render  it  valid. 

"  2d.  That  marriage  once  contracted  according 
to  its  forms,  no  power  on  earth  can  sunder  it. 

"  3d.  That  it  remains  indissoluble  under  all  acts 
and  circumstances. 

"4th.  In  case  of  doubtful  marriage,  the  church 
alone  decides  the  validity  or  invalidity. 

"  5th.  Marriage,  without  canonical  impediment, 
is  indissoluble,  whatever  impediment  the  lay  power 


468        ROMANISM   OPPOSED   TO   OUR  LIBERTIES. 

may  impose,  without  the  consent  of  the  Universal 
Church,  or  of  its  Supreme  Head,  the  Roman  Pon 
tiff. 

"6th.  That  every  marriage  contracted,  notwith 
standing  a  canonical  impediment,  though  abro 
gated  by  the  sovereign,  ought  to  be  holden  null 
and  of  no  effect ;  and  that  every  Catholic  is  bound 
in  conscience  to  regard  such  a  marriage  as  void 
until  made  valid  by  a  lawful  dispensation  of  the 
church,  if,  indeed,  the  impediment  which  renders  it 
null  may  be  removed  by  a  dispensation" 

Americans,  you  all  allow  that  marriage  consti 
tutes  and  perpetuates  society  ;  that  it  commends 
itself,  as  of  the  first  importance,  to  the  civil  power. 
Are  you  willing,  then,  to  surrender  duties  so 
momentous  to  the  order  and  peace  of  families  and 
our  country,  and  enacted  and  sanctioned  by  our 
legislatures,  to  foreign  priests,  or  to  any  priesthood 
whatever  ?  The  Romish  system,  by  the  Council 
of  Trent,  says :  "  Marriage  contracted  without  the 
solemn  forms  of  the  church  is  void,  which  this 
council  could  not  have  done  if  it  depended  on  the 
nature  of  two  contracts,  which  depend  on  two  dis 
tinct  powers,  —  the  one,  civil,  and  dependent  on 
civil  laws ;  the  other,  religious,  and  dependent 


ROMANISM   OPPOSED   TO    OUR   LIBERTIES.        469 

on  the  laws  of  the  church."  The  belief  that  it  is 
necessary  to  go  to  the  Pope  of  Rome  to  get  a  dispen 
sation  from  a  canonical  impediment,  because  a  man 
regards  marriage  as  a  sacrament,  and  not  a  civil 
contract,  and  that  his  union  by  the  civil  law  would 
be  void,  and  his  children  illegitimate,  without  it, 
is  a  sufficient  cause,  we  say,  to  disqualify  any 
Romanist  from  holding  a  civil  trust  under  our 
Protestant  government,  and  cannot  exist  without 
affecting  his  conduct  as  a  public  officer,  no  matter 
what  may  be  said  or  affirmed  to  the  contrary.  The 
system  that  blesses  horses  and  dogs  for  money,* in 
the  name  of  the  Holy  Trinity,  may  well  afford  to 
curse  American  Protestant  liberty.  This  law  of 
Romish  marriage,  therefore,  is  most  pernicious  and 
anti-republican. 

In  1654,  after  the  final  rising  of  the  Council  of 
Trent,  Pius  the  Fourth  issued  a  creed,  which  is 
received  universally  by  the  Roman  Catholic  Church, 
and  is  by  a  bull  enforced  upon  the  profession  of 
every  doctor,  teacher,  and  head  of  a  university. 
No  election  or  promotion  is  valid  without  it.  An 
other  papal  law  requires  the  same  profession  of  the 
heads  of  cathedrals,  monastic  institutions,  and  the 
military  order,  which  law  directly  interferes  with 


470       ROMANISM   OPPOSED   TO    OUR   LIBERTIES. 

liberty.  Milner,  a  popish  writer,  in  his  "  End  of 
Controversy,"  chap,  xiv.,  says  :  "  The  same  creed, 
namely,  the  Apostles'  Creed,  the  Nicene  Creed,  the 
Athanasian  Creed,  and  THE  CREED  OF  POPE  Pius 
IV.,  DRAWN  UP  IN  CONFORMITY  with  the  Holy  Coun 
cil  of  Trent,  and  EVERYWHERE  RECITED  AND  PRO 
FESSED  TO  THE  STRICT  LETTER,"  &c.  In  addition  to 
a  profession  of  faith,  twelve  NEW  ARTICLES,  as  for 
eign  to  the  Christian  creed  as  light  from  darkness, 
are  subjoined.  The  following  are  extracts  from 
each  of  these  articles  : 

1.  "I  admit  and  embrace  apostolical  and  eccle 
siastical  traditions." 

2.  "I  admit  the  Sacred  Scriptures  according  to 
the  sense  which  the  Holy  Mother  Church  held  and 
does  hold,  to  whom  it  belongs  to  judge  of  the  true 
sense  and  interpretation  of  the  Holy  Scriptures  ; 
nor  will  lever  interpret  them  otherwise  than  accord 
ing  to  the  unanimous  consent  of  the  fathers." 

The  first  binds  the  soul  to  pagan  traditions  ;  the 
second,  to  the  impossibility  of  thinking  or  acting  as 
a  responsible  being  ! 

3.  "I  profess  that  they  are  truly  seven  sacra 
ments,  instituted  by  Jesus  Christ,  for  salvation, 
namely,  baptism,  confirmation,  eucharist,  penance, 


ROMANISM   OPPOSED    TO    OUR   LIBERTIES.        471 

extreme  unction,  orders,  and  matrimony  ;  and  that 
they  confer  grace." 

4.  "Without  the  sacrament  of  baptism,  which  is 
the  sacrament  of  faith,  no  one  can  ever  obtain  jus 
tification." 

That  is,  without  the  priest  blesses  the  soul ! 

5.  "  That  in  the  mass  there  is  offered  to  God  a 
true,  proper,  propitiatory  sacrifice  for  the  living 
and  the  dead." 

Every  priest  by  this  act  is  made  to  offer  up  a 
sacrifice  of  our  blessed  Saviour,  directly  violating 
that  passage  which  says,  "  Christ  was  once  offered 
up."  If  Christ  was  only  once  offered  up  (not  by 
the  priest,  but  by  himself),  how  can  he  be  offered 
up  again,  and  that,  too,  by  a  priest  ?  But  this 
"  sacrifice  of  the  mass  "  is  not  Christianity  :  it  is 
papal  mystification  and  paganism,  —  an  absurdity. 
None  but  a  Catholic  priest  can  offer  up  the  sacrifice 
of  the  "  mass,"  and  turn  a  wafer  into  a  God  !  !  ! 
Who  can  think  of  such  blasphemy  without  a  shud 
der?  But  this  is  not  the  worst  of  this  turning 
a  "wafer"  into  God.  Rome  compels  physically 
all  persons,  whoever  they  be,  to  bow  to,  and  wor 
ship,  this  wafer- God  !  !  !  Is  not  this  compulsory 
law  anti-republican  ? 


472       ROMANISM   OPPOSED   TO   OUR   LIBERTIES 

6.  This  article  speaks  of  Purgatory,  —  that  is, 
a  temporary  punishment  for  the  faithful  on  their 
way  to  heaven.  ' '  The  souls  therein  are  helped  by 
the  suffrages  of  the  faithful."  Prayers,  well  paid 
for,  are  one  of  the  most  successful  of  Rome's 
deceptions  to  enrich  her  treasury.  The  father,  for 
the  soul  of  his  child  or  wife,  employs  the  official 
services  of  the  priest,  to  deliver  that  soul  from  the 
horrors  of  purgatorial  torment !  It  makes  slaves 
of  the  poor  laity,  whose  hard  earnings  and  scanty 
wages  are  exacted  and  given  to  this  end  ;  while 
the  priests  extort  and  secure  endowments  from  the 
deceased  wealthy,  to  save  them  from  punishment !  ! 

We  find  a  church  in  Venice,  in  1743,  was  in 
arrears  for  sixteen  thousand  four  hundred  masses  ; 
and  Florentine  tells  of  a  Spanish  priest  who  was 
paid  for  eleven  thousand  eight  hundred  masses 
which  he  never  said  !  Thus  do  the  priesthood  of 
Rome  traffic  in  souls  ;  cheat  the  people  of  liberty  ; 
cheat  them  of  their  money  ;  cheat  them  of  their 
hopes  ;  cheat  them  of  their  salvation  !  And  this 
purgatorial  lying,  extortion,  and  compulsion,  are 
anti-republican. 

7  and  8.  These  articles  profess  belief  in  the  doc 
trine  of  heathen  worship  of  saints,  and  images,  and 


ROMANISM   OPPOSED   TO    OUR   LIBERTIES.        473 

relics  — "the  image  of  Christ,  of  the  Virgin 
Mother  of  God,"  and  of  other  saints.  This  belief 
is  binding  on  all. 

This  is  anti-Christian,  and  tends  to  make  the  peo 
ple  heathenish  ;  and  this  pagan  ignorance  is  inimi 
cal  to  the  whole  genius  of  our  republican  system. 

9.  Professes  faith  in  the  power  of  indulgences, 
which    directly    promotes    and    gives    license    for 
crimes.     "  I  also  affirm  that  the  power  of  indulgence 
was  left  by  Christ  in  the  church,  and  that  the  use 
of  them  is  most  wholesome  to  a  Christian  people." 
They  are  very  "wholesome"  for   the  Pope-  and 
priests  to  fill  their  coffers  with  money,  and  to  mul 
tiply  crimes  all  over  the  land.     They  are  sometimes 
called  "  bills  of  exchange  on  purgatory." 

These  indulgences  are  dispensed  by  the  Pope 
through  the  priests.  They  are  a  bundle  of  licenses 
to  commit  all  manner  of  iniquities.  There  is 
always  a  great  demand  for  these  little  packages ; 
and,  depending  on  the  foreign  will  of  the  Pope, 
they  bring  a  fine  price,  and  give  the  hierarchy  an  un 
bounded  power  over  their  people  of  the  whole  earth. 

10.  "  I  acknowledge  the  Holy  Catholic,  Apostolic 
Roman  Church  for  the  Mother  and  Mistress  of  all 
churches  ;  and  I  promise  true  obedience  to  the  Bishop 


474        ROMANISM    OPPOSED    TO    OUR   LIBERTIES. 

of  Rome,  successor  to  St.  Peter,  prince  of  the  Apos 
tles,  Vicar  of  Christ,"  "  THE  MISTRESS  OF  ALL 
CHURCHES." 

Is  there  anything  to  surpass  this  arrogant 
assumption  of  priestly  power,  —  t his  direct  alle 
giance  to  the  Pope?  What  is  it  but  a  slavery, 
which  our  free  spirits  should  denounce,  and  at 
which  we  should  revolt  ?  Is  our  country  safe  with 
such  a  decree  ? 

llth.  "  I  likewise,  undoubtedly,  receive  and 
profess  all  other  things,  delivered,  denned,  and 
declared,  by  the  sacred  canons  of  the  General  Coun 
cil."  This  is  adopting  all  the  persecuting,  immoral 
legislation  of  the  "  Council  of  Trent,"  the  "worst 
of  all."  Yet,  every  priest  and  every  papist  in  our 
land  is  bound  by  oath  to  receive  "  all  things 
denned,  delivered,  and  declared,"  by  that  Council. 
"  And  I  condemn,  reject,  and  anathematize,  all 
things  contrary  thereto,  and  all  heresies  which  the 
church  has  condemned,  rejected,  and  anathematized. ' ' 
Here  at  one  sweep  they  curse  all  heretics,  or  Prot 
estants,  wherever  they  are  found. 

12th.  "  This  true  Catholic  faith,  without  which 
no  man  can  be  saved,  which  I  at  present  freely  profess, 
and  truly  hold,  the  sane  I  will  take  care  of  as  far 


ROMANISM    OPPOSED    TO    OUR   LIBERTIES.        475 

as  in  f£  lies,  and  shall  be  most  constantly  held  and 
confessed  by  me,  whole  and  unviolated,  with  God's 
assistance,  to  the  last  breath  of  my  life  ;  and  by  all 
my  subjects,  or  these,  the  care  of  whom,  in  my 
office,  belongs  to  me,  shall  be  held,  taught,  and 
preached."  "I  THE  SAME,  N,  PROMISE,  vow,  AND 

SWEAR,  SO    HELP    ME  GOD    AND    THESE  HOLY  GOSPELS." 

This  is  the  priest's  article  especially.  He  is  a  slave 
to  the  Pope,  and  is  himself  a  PARISH  POPE  TO  THE 
PEOPLE. 

Mark  this,  Americans :  the  Romish  priest  swears 
by  an  oath  that  there  is  no  salvation  to  those  who 
do  not  believe  this  creed ;  that  is,  who  do  not  believe 
in  the  supremacy  of  the  Pope,  indulgences,  transub- 
stantiation,  purgatory,  image  worship,  saint  wor 
ship,  persecution  against  Protestants,  traditions,  &c. 
He  swears  also  to  spread  these  anti- Christian  and 
persecuting  doctrines  among  those  under  his  care, 
and  to  do  all  he  can  to  enforce  them,  without  refer 
ence  to  right  or  liberty,  to  his  life's  end  ;  to  sup 
press  freedom  of  thought  and  speech,  a:id  to  make 
subjects  for  the  Pope  of  Rome  !  Now,  Protestants, 
all  this  is  subversive  of  our  free  institutions.  If 
the  priests  and  the  papists  do  not  oppose,  denounce, 


476        ROMANISM    OPPOSED    TO    OUR   LIBERTIES. 

and   persecute  to  death  (whenever  they  can  and 
dare),  all  Protestants,  they  swear  to  a  lie. 

We  repeat,  they  are  bound,  by  their  oath  to  the 
Pope  of  Rome,  to  receive  all  the  persecuting  and 
tyrannical  decrees  of  the  general  councils  of  that 
church.  We  say,  they  are  bound  to  teach  and 
diffuse  principles  utterly  opposed  to  all  the  dear  and 
cherished  rights  of  American  liberty  to  your  chil 
dren  ;  and  they  ought  not  to  be  intrusted  with  the 
education  of  freemen,  if  you  wish  to  preserve  the 
precious  and  glorious  privileges  of  our  land.  The 
whole  body  of  papists,  by  the  creed  of  Pius  IV., 
is  fastened  and  indissolubly  bound  up  with  the 
hierarchy  of  Rome !  And  how  dangerous  and 
inimical  is  it  to  the  liberties  of  this  republic  ! 


CHAPTER     III. 

WE  will  now  give  you  the  precise  oath  which 
binds  every  Roman  Catholic  bishop  in  the  United 
States  of  America,  and  in  the  whole  world,  to  the 
Pope  of  Rome  and  his  throne.  It  is  taken  from 
Barrow's  unanswered  "  Treatise  on  Supremacy," 
and  is  a  COMPLETE  FEUDAL  OATH.  Here  it  is : 

"I,  N,  elect  of  the  church  of  N,  will  hencefor 
ward  be  faithful  and  obedient  to  St.  Peter,  the 
Apostle,  and  to  the  Holy  Roman  Church,  and  to  our 
Lord,  the  Lord  N,  Pope  N,  and  to  his  successors 
canonically  coming  in.  I  will  neither  advise,  con 
sent,  or  do  anything,  that  they  may  lose  life  or  mem 
ber,  or  that  their  persons  may  be  seized,  or  hands 
any  wise  laid  upon  them,  under  any  pretence  whatever. 
The  counsel  which  they  shall  intrust  me  withal,  by 
themselves,  their  messengers,  or  letters,  I  will  not 
knowingly  reveal  to  any  to  their  prejudice.  /  will 
keep  them  to  defend  and  keep  the  holy  papacy,  and 
the  ROYALTIES  OF  ST.  PETER,  saving  my  order, 


478        ROMANISM    OPPOSED    TO    OUR   LIBERTIES. 

against  all  men.  The  legate  of  the  apostolical 
see,  going  and  coming,  I  will  honorably  treat,  and 
help  in  his  necessities.  THE  RIGHTS,  HONORS, 

PRIVILEGES,   AND    AUTHORITY,    OF     THE    HOLY    ROMAN 

CHURCH  OF  OUR  LORD  THE  POPE,  and  his  foresaid 
successors,  I  will  endeavor  to  preserve,  defend,  in 
crease,  and  advance.  I  will  not  be  in  any  council, 
action,  or  treaty,  in  which  shall  be  plotted  against 
our  said  Lord,  and  the  Romish  church,  anything 
to  the  hurt  or  prejudice  of  their  persons,  right,  honor, 
state,  or  power  ;  and  if  I  shall  know  any  such  thing 
to  be  treated  or  agitated  by  any  whatsoever,  I  will 
hinder  it  to  my  power,  and  as  soon  as  I  can  will 
signify  it  to  our  said  lord,  or  to  some  other,  by  whom 
it  may  come  to  his  knowledge. 

"  The  rules  of  the  holy  fathers,  the  apostolic 
decrees,  ordinances,  or  disposals,  reservations,  provi 
sions,  and  mandates,  I  will  observe  with  all  my 
might,  and  cause  to  be  observed  by  others.  HERE 
TICS,  SCHISMATICS,  AND  REBELS  TO  OUR  SAID  LORD, 
OR  HIS  FORESAID  SUCCESSORS,  I  WILL  TO  MY  POWER 

PERSECUTE  AND  OPPOSE.  I  will  come  to  a  council 
when  I  am  called,  unless  I  am  hindered  by  a 
canonical  impediment.  I  WILL  BY  MYSELF  IN  PERSON 

VISIT    THE    THRESHOLD  OF    THE  APOSTLES    EVERY    THREE 


ROMANISM   OPPOSED   TO    OUR   LIBERTIES.        479 

YEARS,  AND  GIVE  AN  ACCOUNT  TO  OUR  LORD  AND  HIS 
FORESAID  SUCCESSORS  OF  ALL  MY  PASTORAL  OFFICE, 

and  of  all  things  any  wise  belonging  to  the  state  of 
my  church^  to  the  discipline  of  my  clergy  and  people, 
and,  lastly,  of  the  salvation  of  souls  committed  to  my 
trust  ;  and  will,  in  like  manner,  humbly  receive  and 
diligently  execute  the  apostolic  commands. 

"  And  if  I  be  detained  by  a  lawful  impediment,  1 
will  perform  all  things  aforesaid  by  a  certain  messen 
ger,  hereto  especially  empowered  a  member  of  my  chap 
ter,  or  some  other  in  ecclesiastical  dignity,  or  else 
having  a  parsonage  ;  or,  in  default  of  these,  by  a 
priest  of  the  diocese  ;  or,  in  default  of  one  of  the 
clergy  (of  the  diocese),  by  some  other  secular  or  regu 
lar  priest,  of  improved  integrity  and  religion,  fully 
instructed  in  all  things  above  mentioned.  And  such 
impediment  I  will  make  out  by  lawful  proofs,  to  be 
transmitted  by  the  aforesaid  messenger  to  the  Cardi 
nal  proponent  of  the  Holy  Roman  Church,  in  the 
congregation  of  the  sacred  council. 

'  *  The  possessions  belonging  to  my  table  I  will  nei 
ther  sell,  nor  give  away,  nor  mortgage,  nor  grant  aneu, 
in  fee,  nor  any  wise  alienate,  —  no,  not  even  with  the 
consent  of  the  chapter  of  my  church,  —  without  con 
suiting  the  Roman  Pontiff.    And  if  I  shall  make  an> 


480        ROMANISM    OPPOSED    TO    OUR   LIBERTIES. 

alienation,  I  will  thereby  incur  the  penalties  con 
tained  in  a  certain  constitution  put  forth  about  this 
matter.  So  HELP  ME  GOD,  AND  THESE  HOLY  GOS 
PELS." 

Such  is  that  servile  and  persecuting  oath.  This 
doctrine  of  the  supremacy  of  the  Pope  and  the 
priesthood  makes  bond-slaves  of  all  people  who  be 
long  to  them.  It  makes  a  God  on  earth  of  the  Pope 
at  Rome.  He  is  an  ambitious  tyrant  over  the  PRIEST 
HOOD,  and  the  priests  are  tyrants  over  the  people. 

No  man  can  take  this  oath  to  the  Pope,  and  be 
&  faithful  or  true  citizen  of  the  United  States,  or  a 
safe  and  consistent  citizen  of  any  country.  No 
Catholic  bishop,  then,  is  an  honest  citizen  of  the 
United  States  ;  if  he  were,  he  would  be  a  perjurer. 
In  another  chapter,  we  have  shown,  in  the  memo 
rable  contest  between  the  Pope  and  the  republic 
of  Venice,  that  the  Jesuits  all  turned  traitors,  and 
jledfrom  Venice,  and  went  over  to  the  Pope  !  The 
Jesuits,  who  are  the  Pope's  greatest  propagandists, 
never  did,  according  to  all  history  ar*d  the  authority 
of  the  French  Parliament,  dwell  in  any  country, 
without  destroying  its  liberties  and  its  morals.  The 
foreign  hierarchy  who  control  the  Roman  Catholic 
church  in  the  United  States  to-day  are  Jesuits, 


ROMANISM    OPPOSED    TO    OUR   LIBERTIES.        481 

from  the  leading  bishops  spread  over  the  states,  to 
the  Irish  priest  who  came  by  the  last  emigrant 
arrival. 

It  is  in  accordance  with  the  American  principle 
to  examine  everything  presented  to  us.  We  are 
carrying  forward  the  glorious  emancipation  Luther 
began.  The  liberty,  civil  and  religious,  we  so 
earnestly  cherish  and  develop,  is  Bible  liberty, 
and  its  home  is  on  American  ground.  Without  note 
or  comment,  we  send  that  blessed  book  abroad  over 
the  world,  the  emblem  of  this  ennobling,  sublime 
liberty,  and  the  guardian  evidence  to  all  who  breathe 
American  air  to  stand  erect  as  freemen,  and  to 
bow,  unmolested  by  papal  curses  and  bulls,  in  the 
worship  of  our  God.  This  blessed  volume  has  been 
translated  into  more  than  one  hundred  and  sixty 
languages  of  the  earth ;  and,  without  the  cost  of 
a  single  mass  or  prayer  for  a  soul  in  purgatory,  it 
is,  through  American  means  and  Protestant  teach 
ing,  enlightening,  and  comforting,  and  instructing, 
millions  of  the  human  family. 

Two  years  ago,  there  was  a  consecration  in  St. 
Patrick's  Cathedral,  New  York,  of  Bishops  Bailey, 
McLaughlin,  and  Dr.  Goesbriand,  by  the  papal  Nun 
cio,  Monsignor  Bedini.  The  Jesuits  then  took  that 
21 


482        ROMANISM   OPPOSED   TO   OUR  LIBERTIES. 

oath  in  Latin,  as  we  have  given  it  in  correct  Eng 
lish  ;  but  the  priests  published  a  version  in  English, 
for  the  newspapers,  and  little  pamphlets  contain 
ing  an  account  of  the  ceremonies ;  one  of  which 
pamphlets  is  now  before  us,  and  it  contains  a  com 
plete  and  wilful  forgery.  It  omitted  all  the  perse 
cuting  and  political  part,  which  the  oath  we  give 
contains,  and  which  is  the  exact  one  used  here  and 
at  Rome  this  very  day.  They  always  deny  this 
gross  deception  to  Americans,  and  three  fourths  of 
the  American  Roman  Catholic  laity  also  deny  it 
Why  ?  Because  these  Jesuits  find  it  expedient  to 
cheat  and  deceive  Protestants  and  their  own  papist 
subjects  in  this  American  land. 

Cruelty  is  a  central  principle  in  the  Church  of 
Rome,  and,  therefore,  anti-republican.  It  is  very 
common,  at  present,  with  Roman  Catholics,  to  deny 
that  their  church  approves  religious  persecution , 
and  in  this  assertion  they  are  backed  up  by  ignorant 
or  designing  Protestants,  for  political  purposes 
solely.  But  there  is  no  fact  more  clearly  proved, 
both  by  history  and  the  dogmas  of  their  church 
everywhere  contained  in  their  canons  and  bulls,  and 
carried  out  in  practice  to  the  present  day.  The 
prisons  of  Rome,  and  all  the  Italian  prisons  under 


ROMANISM   OPPOSED   TO    OUR   LIBERTIES.        483 

the  influence  of  the  Pope,  are,  at  this  moment, 
filled  with  victims  groaning  under  these  horrid 
cruelties.  The  Inquisition,  in  some  form,  and  every 
priest  and  his  devotees,  are  agents  to  execute  this 
intolerance. 

The  commentary  of  Menochius,  which  is  a  text 
book  at  all  Catholic  colleges  and  seminaries  of 
learning,  declares,  in  connection  with  the  parable 
of  the  wheat  and  the  tares,  that  the  Saviour  "  does 
not  forbid  heretics  (or  Protestants)  to  be  taken  away 
and  put  to  death,"  and  refers  to  Meldonatus  on  this 
special  article  of  their  belief.  And  these  are  the 
words  of  the  authority  alluded  to:  "They  who 
deny  that  heretics  are  to  be  put  to  death  ought 
much  rather  to  deny  that  thieves,  much  rather  that 
murderers,  ought  to  be  put  to  death ;  for  heretics 
are  the  more  pernicious  than  thieves  or  murderers, 
as  it  is  a  greater  crime  to  steal  and  slay  the  souls 
of  men  than  their  bodies." 

Bellarmine,  the  papal  authority  constantly  ap 
pealed  to,  says  :  "  Experience  teaches  us  that  there 
is  no  other  remedy  (than  death)  ;  for  the  church  has 
advanced  by  degrees,  and  tried  every  remedy.  At 
first  she  only  excommunicated,  tlien  fined,  then  exiled  ; 
at  last  she  ^as  compelled  to  have  recourse  to  death. 


484       ROMANISM   OPPOSED   TO    OUR   LIBERTIES. 

*****  If  you  throw  them  (Protestants)  into 
pnson,  or  send  them  into  exile,  they  corrupt  their 
neighbors  by  their  language,  and  those  who  are  at  a 
distance  by  their  books  ;  therefore,  the  only  remedy 
is,  to  send  them  speedily  to  their  proper  place-" 

The  following  is  the  curse  of  Pope  Benedict 
VHI. : 

"May  they  suffer  the  curse  of  God  and  of  the 
world  ;  may  they  suffer  it  in  their  body,  may  their 
mind  become  stupefied,  may  they  meet  with  all 
bodily  pains,  and  end  in  perdition. 

"  May  they  be  damned  with  the  cursed  ones, 
and  perish  with  the  wicked. 

"  May  they  be  cursed  with  the  Jews,  who  did 
not  believe  in  our  Lord,  and  crucified  him. 

"  May  they  be  cursed  with  the  heretics,  Prot 
estants,  who  attempt  to  overthrow  the  Holy  Mother 
Church.  h-.'H 

1 '  May  they  be  damned  in  the  four  parts  of  the 
world  :  cursed  in  the  east,  abandoned  in  the  west, 
interdicted  in  the  north,  excommunicated  in  the 
south. 

"May  they  be  cursed  in  the  day,  excommuni 
cated  in  the  night. 


BOMANKM   OPPOSED -TO    OUR   LIBERTIES.        485 

"  May  they  be  damned  in  heaven,  on  earth,  and 
in  the  regions  below." 

Says  the  historian  Bruys :  "Secular  powers, 
if  need  be,  may  be  compelled  by  church  censures 
to  destroy  all  heretics  (Protestants)  marked  by  the 
church,  out  of  the  lands  of  their  jurisdiction." 
—  Labb.,  Tom.  13,  p.  934.'  Bruys'  Hist,  of  the 
Papacy,  Tom.  iii.,  p.  148. 

The  Council  of  Constance,  1414,  in  which  Pope 
Martin  presided,  not  only  condemned  and  burned 
alive  Hues  and  Jerome  of  Prague,  but  issued  their 
terrific  anathema  against  the  millions  of  heretics 
all  over  Europe,  and  commanded  all  kings,  emper 
ors,  and  princes,  forthwith  to  exterminate  by  fire 
and  sword. 

This  dogma  of  persecution  is  introduced  into  the 
class-book  at  Maynooth  Jesuit  College,  for  which 
England  contributes  annually  thirty  thousand 
pounds  sterling. —  See  Delahogue's  Tract.  Theolog., 
cap,  8.  De  Membris,  p.  404,  Dublin  edit.,  1795. 

The  oath  which  every  Roman  bishop  swears 
contains  this  central  principle  of  persecution. 

The  following  propositions  are  taken  from  Dr. 
Den's  System  of  Theology,  a  text-book  for  every 
papal  theological  seminary  in  the  land  :  ^ 


486        ROKANISM    OPPOSED   TO    OUR   LIBERTIES. 

1st.  * '  Protestants  are  heretics,  and  as  such  are 
worse  than  Jews  and  Pagans." 

2d.  "  They  are,  by  baptism  and  blood,  under  the 
power  of  the  Roman  Catholic  Church." 

3d.  "  So  far  from  granting  toleration  to  Protest 
ants,  it  is  the  duty  of  the  church  to  exterminate 
the  rites  of  their  religion." 

4th.  "It  is  the  duty  of  the  Roman  Catholic 
Church  to  compel  heretics  to  submit  to  her  faith." 

5th.  "That  the  punishments  decreed  by  the 
Roman  Catholic  Church  are  confiscation  of  goods, 
exile,  imprisonment,  and  death." 

A  converted  Popish  priest,  in  a  late  work,  says  * 

"  During  the  last  three  years  I  discharged  the 
duty  of  a  Romish  clergyman,  my  heart  often  shud 
dered  at  the  idea  of  entering  the  confessional.  The 
recitals  of  the  murderous  acts  I  had  often  heard 
through  this  iniquitous  tribunal  had  cost  me  many 
a  restless  night,  and  are  still  fixed  with  horror  upon 
my  memory.  But  the  most  awful  of  all  considera 
tions  is  this,  —  that  through  the  confessional  I  have 
been  frequently  apprised  of  intended  assassinations, 
and  most  diabolical  conspiracies ;  and,  still,  from 
the  ungodly  injunctions  of  secrecy  in  the  Romish 
creed,  lest,  as  Peter  Dens  says,  '  the  confessional 


BOMANISM   OPPOSED   TO    OUR   LIBERTIES.        487 

should  become  odious,'  I  dared  not  give  the  slight 
est  intimation  to  the  marked-out  victims  of 
slaughter." 

Pope  Urban  II.  says  : 

"We  do  not  consider  those  as  homicides  who, 
burning  with  zeal  for  the  Catholic  church  against 
excommunicated  persons,  happen  to  have  killed  any 
of  them." 

Pope  Sixtus  V.,  in  a  public  address,  applauded 
the  assassination  of  Henry  III.  of  France. 

The  Rhemish  translators  of  the  New  Testament, 
on  Rev.  17  :  6,  "Drunken  with  the  blood  of  the 
saints,"  say  : 

"  Protestants  foolishly  expound  it  of  Rome,  for 
that  they  put  heretics  to  death,  and  allow  of  their 
punishment  in  other  countries ;  but  their  blood  is 
not  called  the  blood  of  saints  no  more  than  the 
blood  of  thieves,  man-killers,  and  other  malefactors, 
for  the  shedding  of  which,  by  order  of  justice,  no 
commonwealth  shall  answer." 

Bellarmine  and  Maldonatus,  two  of  the  highest 
authorities  at  Maynooth,  teach  the  same  doctrines. 
The  proceedings  at  Rome  in  regard  to  the  massacre 
of  St.  Bartholemew  prove  that  Rome  would  have 
equally  gloated  over  the  Gunpowder  Plot,  if  it  had 


488       BOMANISM   OPPOSED   TO    OUR  LIBERTIES. 

only  been  successful.  She  has  never  disavowed 
any  of  her  atrocious  principles,  whilst  the  recent 
avowals  of  Dr.  Cahill,  the  Rambler,  and  the  Shep 
herd  of  the  Valley,  demonstrate  that  modern  Papists 
are  quite  as  bloodthirsty  as  their  ancestors. 

"  The  Inquisition  was  first  established  at  Tou 
louse,  in  1233.  It  subsequently  spread  in  Spain, 
Portugal,  and  other  countries,  increasing  in  power 
and  cruelty.  The  managers  of  the  inquisitional 
courts  were  men  of  low  origin  and  brutal  nature, 
who  had  unlimited  power  from  the  Pope  to  put  to 
death  any  person  suspected  of  heresy  ;  and  heresy, 
in  the  Church  of  Rome,  means  nothing  but  opposing 
the  pretensions  of  the  Papacy.  Under  the  tryanni- 
cal  sway  of  the  Inquisition,  parents  were  required 
to  stifle  all  their  natural  affections,  and  children 
forgot  their  reverence,  gratitude,  and  love.  The 
immense  power  of  the  Inquisitor  General  we  refer 
to.  Among  other  practices  of  the  Inquisition,  it 
was  common  for  persons  to  be  seized  and  murdered 
in  order  to  get  possession  of  their  property.  It 
was  in  vain  to  search  the  world  for  an  institution 
to  compare  with  this  in  atrocity  and  merciless  bar 
barity.  'Deliver  yourself  up  a  prisoner  to  the 
Inquisition,'  filled  the  soul  with  horror,  and  made 


ROMANISM   OPPOSED   TO    OUK   LIBERTIES.        489 

the  frame  motionless,  for  it  was  the  prelude  to  the 
dungeon  and  death.  The  infamous  practices  of 
the  inquisitional  courts  were  made  up  of  cruelty, 
blood,  death ! 

' '  Romanism  has  not  changed  by  the  light  and 
progress  of  civilization.  In  1825,  under  Pope 
Leo  XII.,  the  work  of  the  Inquisition  was  recom 
menced  with  great  vigor.  It  was  as  dark,  baneful, 
and  bloody,  as  ever.  From  that  period  until  the 
late  revolution  in  Italy,  scenes  of  horror  transpired, 
the  details  of  which  are  known  only  to  their  atro 
cious  authors.  In  1849,  the  Constituent  Assembly 
determined  that  the  tribunal  should  be  abolished, 
and  the  building  appropriated  to  some  military 
purpose.  In  the  buildings  were  the  bones  of  human 
beings  without  number,  thrown  together  in  a  man 
ner  to  shock  the  feelings.  There  are  to-day  a 
thousand  patriots  suffering,  in  gloomy  and  filthy 
dungeons,  all  the  horrors  that  the  victims  of  the 
Inquisition  endured.  The  truth  is,  that  the  spirit 
of  deadly  persecution  is  inherent  in  Romanism. 
It  is  one  of  its  vital  forces.  While  Romanism 
prides  itself  upon  its  immovability,  progress  is  an 
integral  part  of  Protestantism ;  and  its  onward 
march,  however  slow,  is  steady  and  direct." 
21* 


490       ROMANISM  OPPOSED    TO    OUR   LIBERTIES. 

To  those  who  think  that  this  spirit  of  intolerance 
is  relaxed  in  our  day,  either  in  the  United  States 
or  in  other  lands,  we  could  present  a  volume  of 
convincing  and  oyerwhelming  facts  to  prove  the 
contrary.  But  the  following  specimens  will  be 
sufficient : 

A  few  years  ago,  a  Protestant  minister  in  the 
West,  after  preaching  to  his  own  congregation  on 
the  subject  of  Popery,  was  met  by  the  priest  of  the 
town  at  the  church  door,  and  told  by  him  that, 
"were  it  not  for  the  laws  of  the  country,  he  would 
cut  his  throat."  "Yes,"  said  the  minister,  "I 
know  that  already." 

The  Rev.  Mr.  Nast,  of  Cincinnati,  who  has  been 
instrumental  in  the  conversion  of  many  German 
papists,  by  preaching,  lecturing,  and  publishing  a 
German  paper,  received  a  letter  a  few  months 
since,  stating  that  if  he  did  not  stop  his  efforts, 
they  would  do  with  their  fists  what  their  priests 
cannot  do  with  their  pens,  "knock  your  eyes  out." 

An  Episcopal  clergyman  in  the  West  stated  that 
a  member  Df  his  church  married  a  Roman  Catholic 
lady,  who,  by  his  influence,  was  converted  to  the 
Protestant  faith.  The  father  of  the  young  lady 
called  +o  inquire  if  it  was  so.  "Yes,"  said  the 


ROMANISM    OPPOSED    TO    OUR   LIBERTIES.       491 

daughter,  "  it  is."  On  leaving  the  house,  he  said 
to  his  son-in-law,  "  Sir,  I  will  never  be  satisfied 
till  I  have  washed  my  hands  in  your  heart's  blood." 

Who  was  it,  a  few  years  since,  that  drove  six 
hundred  families  from  the  Austrian  empire  into 
the  Prussian  territory,  because  they  would  not 
renounce  the  reformed  religion?  It  was  popish 
priests. 

Who  was  it  that  drove  the  Eev.  Mr.  Rule  from 
Cadiz  ?  Papal  authorities,  directed  to  do  so  by 
the  archbishop  of  the  see. 

Who  flogged  a  man  nearly  to  death  for  renounc 
ing  Popery,  in  the  State  of  Pennsylvania  ?  It  was 
a  popish  priest.  In  the  neighborhood  of  Doyles- 
town,  a  German  Catholic  attended  a  funeral  sermon 
of  a  Protestant  minister,  after  which  a  priest  called 
and  asked  him  if  he  had  become  a  Protestant. 
"If  you  have,"  said  he,  "you  have  committed  a 
mortal  sin;  confess  your  sin  to  me."  "  I  have 
confessed  my  sin  to  Christ,"  said  the  sick  man, 
"  and  obtained  absolution."  The  priest  urged  him 
with  increasing  warmth  to  confess  ;  he  declined. 
The  priest  then  seized  a  chair,  jumped  on  the  bed, 
and  pounded  him  with  it  till  he  broke  it  in  pieces  ; 
he  then  took  from  his  pocket  a  raw-hide,  and  began 


492       ROMAHISM   OPPOSED    TO   OUR   LIBERTIES. 

to  scourge  him,  to  compel  him  to  confess.  A 
stranger,  passing  by,  hearing  the  noise,  entered 
the  house,  and,  finding  the  priest  in  the  act  of 
scourging  the  sick  man,  he  seized  him  by  the  collar, 
and  dragged  him  down  stairs.  Soon  after,  the 
man  died.  The  priest  was  arrested  and  tried  in 
Doylestown  court-house,  and  fined  fifty  dollars  and 
costs,  and  left  the  country. 

Who  was  it  that  threatened  the  city  of  Boston  ? 
It  was  the  lady  superior  of  the  convent,  who,  after 
that  unclean  and  anti-republican  cage  had  been 
attacked  by  rioters,  said  :  "  The  bishop  has  more 
than  twenty  thousand  Irishmen  at  his  command, 
who  will  tear  your  houses  over  your  heads,  and  you 
may  read  your  riot-acts  till  your  throats  are  sore  ! " 
We  condemn  the  riot,  but  did  that  justify  this 
diabolical  and  bloody  threat  of  this  female  Jesuit  ? 

Who  was  it  that  persecuted  recently  four  hun 
dred  Madeira  Protestants,  and  forced  them  to  flee 
from  their  native  country?  The  priests  of  the 
island. 

A  convert  to  Protestantism,  travelling  along  the 
road  leading  to  Scariff,  Ireland,  in  the  county  of 
Clare,  was  accosted  by  some  laborers  in  the  field. 
After  threatening  him  several  times,  they  at  length 


ROMANISM   OPPOSED   TO    OUR   LIBERTIES.       493 

suffered  him  to  pass,  saying,  "  If  you  dare  to  come 
this  way  again,  you  bloody  Sassenah  rascal,  we  '11 
blow  your  brains  out !  "  —  Limerick  Standard. 

A  savage -looking  ruffian  violently  attacked  the 
Rev.  Mr.  Marks,  a  Protestant  clergyman,  late  of 
the  Molyneux  Asylum,  in  the  public  streets  of 
Dublin,  and,  without  provocation,  knocked  the 
reverend  gentleman  down.  What  next  ? —  Warder. 

On  the  evening  of  Wednesday  last,  13th  inst., 
as  John  Honner,  a  respectable  Protestant,  was  re 
turning  home  from  the  Macroon  Sessions,  he  was 
savagely  assaulted  midway  between  Castletown  and 
Enniskeane,  by  some  person  at  present  unknown  ; 
no  less  than  sixteen  wounds  having  been  inflicted 
on  his  head  and  face,  besides  several  others  on  his 
body  and  limbs  ;  his  skull  was  severely  fractured. 
• —  Cork  Standard. 

The  names  of  nearly  one  hundred  persecuted 
Protestant  clergymen  are  given  in  the  Tipperary 
Constitution.  The  manner  in  which  they  were 
treated  is  thus  marked :  stoned  to  death ;  mur 
dered  ;  stoned  ;  fired  at ;  dangerously  assaulted  ; 
abused  and  persecuted ;  plundered ;  interrupted 
and  assaulted  in  the  performance  of  duty ;  house 


494       ROMANISM   OPPOSED    TO    OUR   LIBERTIES. 

attacked,   demolished,   or   burned   down ;     driven 
from  his  home,  or  his  country. 

Some  time  ago,  M.  Maurette,  a  French  Roman 
priest,  was  brought  to  the  knowledge  of  the  truth 
as  it  is  in  Jesus,  and,  in  consequence,  abandoned 
the  pale  of  the  idolatrous  and  apostate  church  in 
which  he  had  been  brought  up.  Having  convinced 
himself  of  the  danger  of  continuing  in  Babylon,  he 
wished  to  induce  as  many  as  possible  of  his  coun 
trymen  to  flee  out  of  her  infected  communion. 
With  this  view,  he  published  a  statement  of  the 
reasons  that  had  led  him  to  adopt  the  Protestant 
faith,  and  plainly  and  forcibly  exposed  the  super 
stition  of  Rome,  by  the  usual  arguments  employed 
by  the  divines  of  the  French  Protestant  church. 
For  this  he  was  condemned,  on  the  17th  of  May, 
1844,  by  the  Court  of  Assizes  of  L'Ariege,  to  a 
year's  imprisonment,  and  a  fine  of  six  hundred 
francs ! 

You  have  all  heard  of  the  brutish  papal  persecu 
tions  at  Damascus,  where  two  or  three  of  the  un 
protected  sons  of  Abraham  were  recently  flogged, 
soaked  in  large  vessels  of  water,  their  eyes  pressed 
out  of  their  sockets  with  a  machine,  dragged  about 
by  the  ears  till  the  blood  gushed  out,  thorns  driven 


ROMANISM   OPPOSED   TO    OUR   LIBERTIES.       495 

in  between  the  nails  and  flesh  of  their  fingers  and 
toes,  and  candles  put  under  their  noses,  burning 
their  nostrils.  This  is  Popery  !  After  hearing  of 
this  act  of  persecution,  and  hundreds  of  others 
constantly  taking  place  in  papal  countries,  and  our 
own  country,  who  will  believe  that  this  unchange 
able  church  has  changed  her  system  of  butchery  ? 
What  she  has  been  she  is  now  ;  and  you,  my  Prot 
estant  brethren,  would  feel  it  if  she  had  the  power. 
Now,  with  the  fact  of  the  presence  of  this  mighty 
enemy  in  our  beloved  land,  what  more  astonishing 
than  the  apathy  and  blindness  of  our  statesmen, 
and  the  slumbering  security  in  which  our  patriotic 
citizens,  to  whom  liberty  is  so  sweet  and  dear,  fold 
their  arms,  and  never  dream  of  papal  danger? 
Do  they  imagine  that  our  country  is  too  great,  our 
resources  too  vast,  our  numbers  too  overwhelming, 
to  feel  the  slightest  apprehension  on  this  subject  ? 
What  was  it  but  a  spark  that  kindled  up  the  con 
flagration  of  Rome,  and  that  was  to  blow  up  the 
Parliament  of  England  ?  What  was  it  but  a  Guy 
Fawkes,  employed  by  the  Jesuit  priests  to  make 
that  fatal  arrangement,  to  overturn  Protestantism 
in  England  ?  What  was  it  but  one  gilded  bauble 
from  the  Pope  that  corrupted  the  royal  monarch, 


496       BOMANISM   OPPOSED  TO   OUR   LIBERTIES. 

Henry  II.,  to  submit  himself  and  kingdom  to  the 
dictation  of  the  Vatican  ?  What  is  it  but  Pusey- 
ism,  now  in  the  hands  of  the  subtle  and  scheming 
Nuncio  of  Rome,  aided  by  the  University  of  Oxford, 
and  the  crafty  spies  and  emissaries  of  Rome,  that 
is  undermining  the  foundation  of  Protestantism,  and 
shaking  the  fancied  stability  of  the  throne  of  the 
Stuarts,  in  that  land  of  the  early  Reformation,  and 
heroic  defenders  of  the  bulwarks  of  liberty  ? 

Do  our  listless  Galbas  imagine  that  the  two 
thousand  papal  bishops,  priests,  and  Jesuits,  with 
their  millions  of  obedient  subjects,  and  multitudes 
of  endowed  nunneries,  seminaries,  and  colleges, 
planted  over  our  land  like  so  many  batteries,  with 
their  guns  and  ammunition  ready  for  action,  are 
sent  here  and  put  in  operation  merely  for  the  idle 
amusement  of  that  foreign  potentate  ?  Is  the  prize 
less  tempting,  by  its  surpassing  beauty  and  mag 
nificence,  than  other  territories  and  states,  at  which 
its  policy  has  been  directed,  and  over  which  its 
skilful  and  deep-laid  plots  have  triumphed  ?  There 
are  but  a  few  of  our  people,  comparatively,  who 
are  aware  of  the  secret  and  mighty  springs  which 
are  at  work  in  the  wheels  within  the  wheels  of  this 
spiritual  and  political  machine.  Its  central  power 


ROMANISM   OPPOSED   TO    OUR   LIBERTIES.       497 

is  at  Rome  ;  but  its  army  of  chameleon  and  vigi 
lant  spies  are  everywhere.  Our  people  may  despise 
its  intrigues,  and  laugh  at  the  warnings  of  more 
reflecting  patriots,  who  stand  like  sentinels  on  the 
watch-towers  of  liberty  ;  but  so  reasoned  the  inhab 
itants  of  Troy,  when  the  treacherous  wooden  horse 
entered  within  its  gates  and  took  the  city. 


A  PROTESTANT  EDUCATION  FOR  AMER 
ICAN  CITIZENS, 


CHAPTER    I. 

AMERICANS,  do  you  know  that  every  time  you 
unfurl  the  banner  of  your  country,  and  rally  to 
the  defence  of  your  republican  school  system,  you 
insult  the  sensibilities  of  the  anti- American  party, 
foreign  and  native  ?  Remember,  the  debt  of  grati 
tude  has  been  fully  paid  to  those  who  have  aided 
you  in  cutting  down  your  forests,  levelling  your 
mountains,  opening  your  highways,  digging  your 
canals,  settling  your  lands,  and  even  in  the 
blood  shed  for  the  common  defence  of  the  country. 
It  is  paid  in  the  prosperity,  the  happiness,  the 
success,  of  their  posterity,  for  whom  they  labored, 
suffered,  and  endured.  They  looked  to  the  good  of 
their  children ;  —  you,  Americans,  have  now  to  do 


Of  NKWYORK 


PROTESTANT   EDUCATION   FOB   AMERICANS.      499 

the  same.  It  is  the  duty  of  the  father  to  protect 
himself  and  family  from  injurious  influences ;  and 
it  is  a  still  more  imperative  duty  for  the  nation  to 
protect  its  people  from  the  same.  Then,  shall  we 
not  be  permitted  to  roll  back  the  tide  of  priestcraft, 
and  place  in  its  way  the  great  counter  wave  of 
American  common  and  free  school  education  ? 
This  is  a  question  for  wise  men  of  all  parties. 
This  is  the  principle  of  that  eclectic  party  which 
the  people  baptize  in  their  own  name  to-day ! 

Remember,  the  greatest  as  well  as  the  cheapest 
insurance  upon  this  Union  is  its  republican  learning. 
You  must  educate  those  who  are  to  make  laws  for 
yourselves  and  your  children  —  who  are  to  elect 
your  judges  and  your  rulers.  The  more  schools 
you  build,  the  fewer  jails  and  alms-houses  you  will 
require.  An  extended  and  free  education  will  give 
to  America  more  private  and  public  prosperity, 
more  financial  success,  more  political  tranquillity, 
than  all  other  means  combined.  And,  if  neglected, 
or  surrendered  into  foreign  hands,  liberty  cannot 
long  linger  upon  your  native  soil.  American  citi 
zens  must  be  respected  the  world  over ;  and  it  is 
their  education  which  secures  the  rights  of  con 
science,  and  of  religious  worship,  and  is  the  main 


500      PUOTESTANT   EDUCATION   FOR   AMERICANS. 

guarantee  of  integrity  and  loyalty  to  their  own 
country. 

There  is  in  the  United  States  now  an  organiza 
tion  called  "  Christian  Brothers/'  It  has  its  seat 
in  Italy,  and  under  a  special  bull  of  the  Pope  is 
found  in  every  city  and  neighborhood  of  our  coun 
try  where  Popery  has  made  a  foot-print.  This 
society  obliges  every  * '  Christian  Brother ' '  *to 
renounce  his  native  country,  friends,  acquaintances, 
and  even  parents  !  And  these  are  the  ' '  Brothers ' ' 
who  conduct  the  schools,  colleges,  nunneries,  and 
monasteries,  of  Romanists,  all  over  our  land.  They 
infuse  into  the  youth  of  the  country  the  poison  of 
religious  and  national  enmity,  and  there  are  thou 
sands  of  tiieir  pupils  in  New  York  and  other  states, 
who,  though  born  upon  the  soil,  will  proudly 
declare  they  are  Roman  Catholics,  and  not  Ameri 
cans  !  And,  that  there  may  be  no  mistake  as  to 
the  rules  and  constitution  of  this  secret  society,  to 
whom  not  only  American  Roman  Catholics,  but 
unsuspecting  Proteetante,  commit  the  souls  and 
bodies  of  their  children,  we  give  some  of  their 
"directions,'*  obtained  from  that  little  printed  vol 
ume,  which  is  approved  by  the  Pope,  and  sanctioned 
by  all  his  bishops  in  our  country,  but  concealed 


PROTESTANT  EDUCATION   FOR   AMERICANS.      501 

from  the  public  eye.  The  author  is  John  Baptist 
La  Salle,  an  Abbot  of  Normandy,  in  France, 
assisted  by  Father  Boudin,  of  the  Society  of  Jesus, 
and  rector  of  the  Jesuits'  Novitiate  at  Rouen. 

NATIVE  COUNTRY.  —  "Each  brother  is  absolutely  required 
to  renounce  his  native  country."  (Pages  16  and  18  of  the 
Rule  of  Government  for  the  use  of  the  Christian  Brothers.) 

DEPENDENCY.  —  "Absolute  and  blind  obedience  to  the 
commands  of  the  Brother  Superior."  (Ditto,  page  48.) 

SELF-DENIAL.  —  "We  have  to  renounce  our  own  judg 
ment,  because  we  are  unable  to  judge  things  but  in  a 
worldly  manner."  (Ditto,  page  91.) 

DIFFIDENCE.  —  "When  the  'Brothers'  converse  with 
persons,  strangers  to  the  Order,  they  will  observe  an  abso 
lute  silence  in  all  that  regards  the  Institution.  They  are 
prohibited  from  letting  anything  transpire  out  of  the  So 
ciety.  They  shall  never  say  in  what  localities,  and  how 
numerous,  are  the  '  Brothers, '  even  if  requested ;  but,  in 
case  they  cannot  avoid  an  answer,  they  will  limit  themselves 
to  speak  only  of  the  spirit  of  the  Institution."  (Rules  and 
Constitutions,  page  34.) 

PARENTS  AND  FRIENDS.  —  "They  will  break  all  affec 
tions  which  should  bind  them  to  the  world,  even  with  parents 
aad  friends. 

"  The  '  Brother'  shall  never  speak  of  his  parents,  nor  of 
his  native  country,  nor  of  what  he  has  done,  unless  with 
persons  such  as  the  bishop,  in  case  he  should  be  interro 
gated."  (Ditto,  page  38.) 

"The  'Brothers'  are  warned  NOT  TO  ATTEND  THE 
FUKE&ALS  OF  THEIR  PARENTS,  only  in  the  church,  in  case 


502      PROTESTANT   EDUCATION   FOE   AMERICANS. 

they  reside  in  the  sairie  locality.  But  the  Superiors  will 
see  that  even  THIS  DOES  NOT  OCCUR  !  "  (Ditto,  page  65.) 

ESPIONAGE.  —  "If  one  of  the  fraternity  should  propose  a 
new  maxim,  which  was  known  to  be  false,  or  might  cause 
serious  consequences,  the  other  '  Brothers '  will  combat  it 
with  silence,  and  report  it  immediately  to  the  Brother  Supe 
rior."  (Ditto,  page  32.) 

HYPOCRISY.  —  "  The  '  Brothers '  will  carry  their  heads 
always  straight,  inclining  it  only  in  front,  never  turning 
behind,  nor  incline  it  on  one  side  or  on  the  other.  Should 
necessity  compel  them  to  it,  they  will  turn  the  whole  body 
quickly  and  with  gravity. 

"  They  will  avoid  to  show  their  forehead  turned  into 
ringlets,  but  the  nose  above  all,  in  order  that  strangers  may 
see  in  their  faces  an  external  wisdom,  which  might  be  the 
sign  of  spiritual  virtue. 

"  They  ought  never  to  keep  their  lips  neither  too  close, 
nor  too  open."  (Ditto,  pages  35,  36.) 

The  books  of  this  society  for  the  education  of 
Americans  are  published  under  the  authority  of 
Archbishop  Hughes,  of  New  York,  and  endorsed 
by  other  bishops  thus  : 

"  I  recommend  the  series  of  school-books  compiled  by  the 

Christian  Brothers,  and  published  by  ( ),  New  York, 

and  wish  them  to  be  used  in  every  school  in  the  diocese 
where  there  are  no  other  Catholic  school-books  in  the  hands 
of  the  children. 

"f  J.  B.,  Archbishop  of  Cincinnati." 

"  We  heartily  recommend  for  the  use  of  our  Catholic 


PROTESTANT   EDUCATION   FOR   AMERICANS.      503 

schools  the  books  of  the  Christian  Brothers,  published  by 
( ),  New  York.          f  JOHN,  Bishop  of  Albany." 

11 1  earnestly  recommend  the  books  of  the  Christian  Broth 
ers,  published  by  ( ),  for  the  use  of  our  Catholic  schools 

in  this  Diocese.  f  JOHN,  Bishop  of  Buffalo." 

The  last  great  Romish  convention  in  Baltimore 
had  for  its  true  object  nothing  but  to  further  the 
assault  upon  the  education  of  the  American  masses. 

Soon  after  its  session,  eight  states  of  the  Union 
made  a  simultaneous  movement  for  a  division  of 
the  public  school  funds  for  this  purpose.  In  Cali 
fornia  alone,  however,  was  the  effort  successful. 

A  pupil  in  a  Roman  Catholic  school  cannot, 
under  the  heaviest  penalty,  open  the  lids  of  a  book, 
or  look  at  a  print  or  painting,  which  has  not  been 
sanctioned  and  approved  by  the  church  !  Even  the 
emblems  on  the  tombs  of  masons  in  Jamaica  have 
been  effaced  by  stone-cutters,  under  the  Jesuit 
priests,  because  that  institution  was  hateful  to  the 
Pope. 

Long  before  the  murder  of  the  Huguenots  in  Flor 
ida,  under  the  Spanish  Inquisition,  the  Pope  had 
made  disposal  of  the  entire  American  continent. 
Pius  the  Fifth  exercised  this  right  to  the  monarchs 
of  Spain  ;  and  the  only  way  to  possess  it  is  that 


504      PROTESTANT  EDUCATION   FOR   AMERICANS. 

wisely  adopted,  in  attempting  to  seduce  the  people 
through  educational  influences  ;  in  plain  English, 
to  keep  them  ignorant,  as  they  do  the  masses  in  all 
Romish  countries. 

"  We  want  to  make  Rome  the  District  of  Colum 
bia  for  all  Christendom,"  is  the  bold  avowal  of  an 
editor  of  the  Popish  press.  In  the  District  of 
Columbia  no  citizen  can  even  vote  for  the  President 
of  their  country,  while  the  Jesuit  college  of  George 
town  furnishes  the  education  to  many  of  the  officers 
of  the  government.  And  in  the  state  department, 
especially,  much  facility  is  thus  afforded  for  man 
agers  of  that  institution  to  know  the  private  trans 
actions  of  our  national  bureaus.  Even  the  lion 
loves  the  lair  of  its  nativity,  and  the  wolf  seeks  the 
cavern  where  it  was  born  ;  but  here  is  a  secret,  in 
visible  influence,  training  Americans  upon  their 
own  soil  to  curse  country,  family,  and  government, 
because  these  shelter  and  protect  from  all  tyrant 
foes. 

Americans,  there  is  a  voice  calling  you  to  action 
now,  stronger  than  that  of  court,  jury,  or  country  ; 
it  is  the  voice  of  God !  It  is  time  to  rise  and  fix 
a  higher  value  to  the  education  of  all  the  people, 


PROTESTANT   EDUCATION   FOR   AMERICANS.       505 

when   men   are   dismissed  for  Americanism  from 
office. 

In  Norfolk,  Va.,  at  the  late  election  of  Gov. 
Wise,  it  was  publicly  and  semi-officially  announced 
by  the  press  that  no  one  in  the  navy  yard  at  that 
station  could  vote  the  American  ticket,  unless  at  the 
expense  of  his  place  ;  and  fifteen  hundred  men  were 
forced  for  their  bread  to  vote  against  their  senti 
ments,  after  making  an  example  by  removing 
three  experienced  mechanics,  who  had  expressed 
their  partiality  for  American  principles  before  that 
election.  In  the  treasury  department,  whether  in 
the  custom-houses,  light-houses,  or  the  erection  of 
new  light-houses,  the  same  system  has  invariably 
been  pursued.  So,  also,  of  the  employes  con 
nected  with  the  post-office  and  the  transportation 
of  mails  ;  and  all  the  patronage  of  the  general 
government,  and  of  the  states  which  have  sympa 
thized  with  President  Pierce's  administration,  the 
greatest  crime  has  been  faithfulness  to  the  princi 
ples  and  policy  of  the  government  your  fathers  left 
you.  They  disclaimed  all  foreign  interference  in 
American  affairs ;  they  declared  the  Union  must 
be  preserved  ;  that  none  but  Americans  should  rule 
your  country  ;  that  national  treaties  were  inviolate ; 
22 


506      PROTESTANT   EDUCATION   FOR   AMERICANS. 

that  no  union  should  exist  between  church  and 
state  ;  that  personal  morality  was  indispensable  for 
office ;  and  that  we  must  have  open  Bibles  in  all 
our  public  schools. 

In  -the  legislature  of  Lower  Canada,  Normal 
schools  have  been  abolished  by  Romanists,  and 
none  but  those  under  the  eye  of  the  priests  exist ;  so 
that  mass,  confession,  the  sacraments  and  dogmas 
of  the  Romish  church,  employ  the  whole  time  of 
the  pupils.  So  will  they  have  it  in  all  the  states  of 
our  Union,  as  soon  as  a  sufficient  number  of  Jesuits 
can  be  had  to  cooperate  with  corrupt  politicians  in 
our  legislatures.  Our  public  schools  will  be  con 
verted  into  jails  for  American  women,  and  our 
Normal  schools  into  Romish  theological  seminaries. 
Are  we  a  people,  Americans  ?  Have  we  a  country 
and  government  of  our  own  ?  If  so,  can  we,  as 
Anglo-Saxon  Protestants,  sanction  or  endure  to  have 
mass  said  over  our  national  soul  by  these  meddling 
Jesuits,  who  thus  insult  our  great  nation  with  such 
worn-out  -foolery  ?  Intelligence  of  the  people  is  the 
foundation  on  which  our  institutions  are  based  ;  and 
a  practical  Protestant  education,  therefore,  is  the 
essential  element  of  our  democratic  freedom  ;  hence, 
as  a  system  of  instruction,  our  Protestant  free 


PROTESTANT   EDUCATION   FOR  AMERICANS.      507 

schools  are  inseparable  from  our  liberties.  This 
right  to  educate  the  people  is  the  right  of  self- 
government,  and  our  common  schools  are,  in  this 
sense,  the  means  of  self-preservation.  No  man  is 
fit  to  be  considered  an  intelligent  voter,  unless  he 
is  able  to  read  the  vote  and  the  constitution  from 
whence  he  derives  the  right  of  suffrage. 

Americans  boast  of  their  free  press ;  but  how  can 
that  save  their  liberties,  unless  they  have  a  free 
and  enlightened  people  to  read  its  products  ?  What 
kind  of  an  idea  can  we  expect  the  masses  to  have 
of  freedom,  when,  without  an  education  of  the 
mind,  it  implies  in  their  judgment  to  do  as  they 
please  ?  What  kind  of  freedom  is  it  which  excludes 
the  Bible  from  the  people,  and  therefore  forces  the 
desecration  of  the  Sabbath  on  the  nation?  In  no 
country  upon  earth  has  liberty  ever  existed,  where 
the  Bible  is  hid  from  the  education  of  the  people. 
This  has  always  kept  republicanism  out  of  France  ; 
the  people  cannot  be  fit  for  it  without  an  open 
Bible  in  their  schools  and  families.  Sixteen  years 
ago,  the  assault  upon  the  American  system  of  edu 
cation  openly  commenced  in  the  State  of  New  York. 
At  that  time  the  Bible  was  found  in  all  the  public 
schools,  and  some  portion  of  God's  holy  word  was 


508      PROTESTANT   EDUCATION    FOR   AMERICANS. 

reverently  read  at  the  opening  exercises  every  day. 
The  Romish  hierarchy  became  alarmed,  and  Bishop 
Hughes  determined  to  prevent  any  Roman  Catholic 
from  entering  these  free  schools.  He  went  before 
the  Common  Council,  and  demanded  a  portion  of 
the  school  fund  to  establish  separate  Roman  Catholic 
schools,  where  no  Bible  could  be  read,  and  no  God 
served  but  the  Pope  and  his  priests.  The  Council 
of  New  York  city  of  course  refused  the  application. 
He  then  had  a  petition  numerously  signed  by 
his  subjects,  and  sent  it  to  the  Legislature,  asking 
that  the  power  be  taken  away  from  the  corporation 
of  that  city.  The  report  and  bill  found  the  warmest 
cooperation  in  the  executive  of  the  state,  and  had 
it  been  sanctioned  by  the  Legislature,  more  than 
one  half  of  the  Jesuit  priesthood  in  New  York 
would  have  been  paid  out  of  the  school  fund  of 
that  city !  The  rejection  of  this  iniquity,  by  the 
people's  representatives,  exasperated  the  foreign 
hierarchy  ;  and  Bishop  Hughes,  as  their  leader, 
called  a  public  meeting  at  Carroll  Hall,  to  nominate 
a  ticket  to  the  next  Assembly  of  the  state.  His 
political  speech  was  vociferously  cheered,  and,  as 
Americans  caught  the  sound,  it  revived  the  spirit 
of  the  heroes  of  our  liberties,  and  the  American 


PROTESTANT   EDUCATION   FOR  AMERICANS.      509 

party,  from  that  hour,  was  born  to  give  salvation 
and  deliverance  to  this  people. 

Our  countrymen,  give  us  your  attention  while 
we  consider  this  solemn  subject,  in  which,  more 
than  any  other,  you  are  deeply  interested,  and  we 
will  embrace  in  the  next  chapter  the  Dangers  of 
Education  in  Roman  Catholic  Seminaries. 


CHAPTER    II. 

THERE  are  now  hundreds  of  Roman  Catholic 
seminaries  and  colleges  in  full  operation,  and  mul 
tiplying  rapidly  over  our  country.  To  monopolize 
instruction  wherever  they  can,  and  to  get  the  con 
trol  of  schools,  that  the  whole  may  be  reduced  to 
the  pliant  domination  of  the  Pope,  —  to  this  end 
the  order  of  Jesuits  was  established.  That  they 
will  involve  this  land  in  troubles  and  conflicts,  is 
just  as  certain  as  that  they  are  swarming  over  our 
country.  Where  is  the  American  parent,  let  alone 
the  Christian  under  vows,  who,  knowing  the  aim 
of  the  Jesuits,  will  turn  over  his  child  to  be  trained 
up  by  men  who  will  use  that  child  afterwards  as 
their  tool  to  ruin  the  liberty,  civil  and  religious, 
which  our  fathers  transmitted,  a  priceless  boon,  to 
us? 

Will  you  lend  me,  therefore,  Americans,  your 
candid  attention,  while  I  present  the  dangers  of 


PROTESTANT   EDUCATION   FOR   AMERICANS.      511 

intrusting  your  sons  and  daughters  to  be  educated 
in  Roman  Catholic  seminaries  ? 

1st.  EDUCATION  IN  ROMAN  CATHOLIC  SEMINARIES 

IS  DANGEROUS,  BECAUSE   THE    METHOD    OF  INSTRUCTION 
IS  SUPERFICIAL  AND  ANTI-REPUBLICAN. 

The  character  of  the  instruction  imparted  in 
these  priestly  schools  is  most  superficial,  and  its 
whole  tendency  is  anti-republican,  and  only  cal 
culated  to  weave  around  the  mind  the  narrow 
and  Jesuitical  prejudices  inimical  to  freedom  of 
thought  and  expanded  intellect.  Their  method 
can  never  make  good  scholars,  independent  of  the 
papal  influence  so  sedulously  thrown  over  them. 
They  omit  the  modern  improvements  in  some 
branches,  and  abridge  to  a  narrow  compass,  to  suit 
their  purposes,  some  of  the  most  important  works. 
They  emasculate  every  sentiment  favorable  to  lib 
erty,  or  our  free  Protestant  institutions,  —  every 
thing  relating  to  the  reformation  by  Luther,  and  to 
those  heroic  and  noble  founders  of  liberty  who 
reared  this  beautiful  and  Protestant  republic,  or 
who  have  appeared  at  any  time  in  the  world  ;  or, 
if  their  deeds  or  names  are  mentioned,  they  are 
depreciated  and  misrepresented.  Books  have  been 
brought  out  from  the  schools,  and  publicly  exposed, 


512      PROTESTANT   EDUCATION   FOR   AMERICANS. 

in  the  city  of  New  York,  some  pages  of  which  had 
been  blackened  over,  or  defaced  and  stricken  out, 
by  the  priests  and  their  teachers.  Their  system  of 
elementary  and  scientific  instruction  is  narrowed  to 
conform  to  their  ecclesiastical  expurgation  and 
repression  of  the  youthful  faculties.  History  is  to 
them  a  dangerous  subject,  especially  when  the  sons 
of  Protestants  are  the  pupils,  and  is,  therefore, 
skimmed  in  a  compend  prepared  by  means  well 
adapted  to  the  end.  Philosophy,  natural,  moral, 
and  mental,  is  studied  very  superficially.  So  are 
the  mathematics.  The  whole  system  of  education 
is  adapted  to  make  only  counterfeit  republicans. 
With  a  very  plausible  appearance,  they  advertise 
11  fashionable  schools,"  where  the  "  manners  of  the 
young  ladies  will  be  polished  after  the  most  ap 
proved  patterns,"  and  where  the  young  gentlemen 
will  be  ' '  educated  in  all  manly  arts  and  scientific 
attainments."  With  such  professions  and  adver 
tisements,  they  impose  upon  Protestants.  It  is 
the  syren  song  of  the  sorceress,  to  charm  the  ear 
with  seductive  music,  and  beguile  the  unsuspecting 
listeners  into  their  treacherous  bosom.  It  is  the 
white  signal  of  a  foe,  —  a  trumpet  blown  from  the 
Vatican  across  the  Atlantic,  to  summon  Americans 


PROTESTANT   EDUCATION   FOR  AMERICANS.      513 

to  adorn  their  banner  with  the  papal  cross,  and  to 
bayonet  their  own  bodies. 

Unhappily,  too  many  Protestants  have  contrib 
uted  already  to  build  up  these  seminaries  of  deadly 
mischief,  and  dangerous  weapons  of  destruction. 
Have  not  the  Protestants,  in  their  liberality,  been 
totally  blind  to  the  artful  designs  of  the  Romish 
priests  and  "  Sisters  of  Charity,"  who  have  taken 
all  pains  to  wave  before  their  eyes  these  false 
colors,  and  to  spread  out,  in  flaming  capitals,  these 
flattering  and  gilded  cards  of  a  "  solid  and  fashion 
able  ' '  education  ?  In  this  mistaken  liberality  of 
Protestants,  they  have  only  been  made  unwitting 
tools  to  advance  the  grand  policy  of  Rome  to  gain 
a  controlling  influence  in  the  states,  and  to  add 
subjects,  power,  and  wealth,  to  their  hierarchy. 

2d.  THESE  SEMINARIES  ARE  DANGEROUS,  BECAUSE 
THOSE  WHO  PRESIDE  OVER  THEM,  AND  ARE  TEACHERS, 
ARE  JESUITS  AND  JESUITESSES. 

Since  the  order  of  the  Jesuits  was  established 
by  Pope  Paul  III.,  in  1540,  they  have  usurped 
and  controlled  education  in  all  the  domains  of  the 
Papacy.  But  who  are  the  Jesuits  ?  They  are  the 
body-guard  of  the  Pope.  They  poison  the  fountains 
of  literature,  and  are  everywhere  the  destroyers  of 
22* 


514      PROTESTANT   EDUCATION   FOE  AMERICANS. 

youth.  Pretending  to  favor  intelligence,  they  are 
the  agents  of  darkness,  the  corrupters  of  female 
virtue  in  the  confessional,  the  libertines  of  monas 
teries,  having  the  nuns  for  their  concubines ;  the 
bane  of  families,  society,  governments,  and  the 
scourge  of  the  world. 

The  Jesuitesses  are  the  tools  of  the  priests  or 
Jesuits.  They  always  follow  them,  and  are  placed 
over  the  nunnery  schools.  An  able  and  reliable 
writer  says  : 

"  All  who  have  acquired  any  knowledge  of  the  interior 
working  of  the  papal  system  are  well  aware  how  much  use 
that  system  has  already  made  of  the  agency  of  woman. 
This  has  been  the  case  very  specially  where  'it  could  not  put 
forth  any  very  large  measure  of  direct  power ;  and  to  this 
the  Jesuits  have  always  devoted  their  utmost  skill  and 
treacherous  craft.  Their  great  aim  is  to  gain  the  confi 
dence  of  females  in  every  rank  of  life,  and  of  every  shade 
of  character,  and  to  employ  them  all  as  agents.  They  may 
be  ladies  of  rank,  wealth,  and  beauty ;  and  may  use  their 
personal  influence  in  the  very  highest  circles,  around  the 
throne,  and  behind  the  throne.  They  may  be  in  the  middle 
classes,  and  may  manage  to  become  acquainted  with  all  the 
affairs  of  the  busy  and  engrossing  events  of  political  and 
commercial  life.  They  may  be  governesses  and  nursery 
maids,  and  may  insinuate  their  plausible  wiles  into  the 
unsuspicious  minds  of  even  young  children.  They  may  be 
the  seeming  benefactresses  of  poverty  and  wretchedness,  and 
may  thus  gain  ascendency  over  the  compassionate  and  the 


PROTESTANT   EDUCATION   FOR   AMERICANS.      515 

sentimental ;  or  they  may  even  haunt  the  scenes  of  deepest 
infamy,  and  ensnare  youth  into  passion  and  crime.  What 
they  have  to  do,  and  are  trained  to  do,  is  to  acquire  either 
an  influence  over  men  in  all  stations,  so  as  to  induce  them 
to  give  countenance  and  support  to  Popery,  or  such  a  knowl 
edge  of  all  men's  designs  as  to  be  able  to  betray  them  to 
their  priestly  and  Jesuitical  advisers.  This  is  done  through 
out  all  Europe,  to  an  extent  that  scarcely  any  person  can 
even  imagine.  •  By  this  secret,  universal,  and  almost  invisi 
ble  agency,  Rome  contrives  to  know  everything  that  is  done, 
or  said,  or  almost  thought,  by  every  man,  in  every  circle ; 
and  can  counterplot  and  overreach  every  attempt  that  can 
be  made  or  framed  against  her  wide  enterprise  of  establish 
ing  universal  dominion  on  the  ruins  of  all  true  liberty,  civil 
and  sacred." 

These  agents  are  far  more  powerful  when  they 
are  employed  in  education.  Here  they  act,  as  in 
every  other  department,  with  the  most  crafty  de 
sign,  to  captivate  the  young  mind,  and  to  attract 
young  ladies  into  their  seminaries,  which  are 
always  an  appendage  to  a  convent  or  a  nunnery. 
They  are  the  spies  of  the  priests.  They  are  bound 
to  carry  out  the  designs  of  Romanism.  With  a 
bland  and  winning  exterior,  they  conceal  from  the 
view  of  Protestants  their  real  intentions.  But 
behind  this  exterior,  when  Protestants  and  all  out 
ward  responsibilities  are  withdrawn,  they  show 


516      PROTESTANT   EDUCATION   FOB   AMERICANS. 

their  real  traits  to  be  the  most  imperious,  cruel, 
and  tyrannical. 

The  following  testimony  is  from  a  competent 
witness,  who  has  had  good  opportunities  of  watch 
ing  them  in  France  : 

"A  great  number  of  Protestants  speak  of  these  Jesuit 
'  Sisters '  as  '  walking  angels,'  or  representatives  of  the 
Virgin  Mary.  But  I  am  convinced  that,  if  many  of  the 
Protestant  pastors  of  France  were  to  contribute  only  a  small 
part  of  the  annoyances  they  have  endured  from  those  '  walk 
ing  angels,'  a  huge  volume  of  facts  might  be  published, 
which  would  prove  that  the  words  Protestant  and  demon 
are  synonymous  in  the  opinion  of  a  vast  majority  of  these 
'  Sisters.'  My  dear  departed  friend,  the  Rev.  A.  Le  Four- 
drey,  pastor  at  Brest,  who  visited  the  hospitals  in  that 
important  seaport  for  twenty-two  years,  often  told  me  that 
he  never  met  with  such  an  intolerant  set  of  human  beings 
as  these  '  Sisters.'  Many  of  them,  he  has  said,  attend  their 
patient  till  they  find  out  that  he  is  a  Protestant ;  and  then, 
unless  they  have  some  secret  hope  of  •onverting  him,  very 
often  their  charity  degenerates  into  brutality.  It  would, 
doubtless,  open  the  eyes  of  Protestants,  as  to  these  {  Sisters,' 
were  they  only  to  become  a  little  better  acquainted  with 
them.  Could  they  only,  for  a  moment,  look  upon  their 
wrathful  countenance  when  they  see  a  person  with  a  Bible 
in  his  hand,  they  would  then,  perhaps,  understand  the  dan 
ger  of  these  Jesuitesses ; "  and,  we  add,  of  sending  the 
daughters  of  Protestant  parents  to  their  schools  in  the 
United  States. 

The  daughters  of  Protestants  who,  unhappily, 


PROTESTANT   EDUCATION   FOR  AMERICANS.      517 

enter  these  nunnery  seminaries,  see  nothing  but 
what  is  agreeable,  polite,  and  perhaps  delightful, 
until  they  are  finally  persuaded  —  for  this  is  a 
constant  end  the  Jesuitesses  have  in  view  —  to 
take  the  white  and  black  veil ;  and  then,  when 
shut  out  and  imprisoned,  under  bars,  and  lock  and 
key,  they  find,  when  too  late,  their  sad  mistake, 
and  the  awful  deception  which  has  been  practised 
upon  them.  They  find  that  these  Jesuitesses,  who 
appeared  as  angels  of  goodness,  full  of  heavenly 
smiles,  are  but  demure,  unsocial,  treacherous 
tyrants. 


CHAPTER    III. 

3d.  THESE  SEMINARIES  ARE  DANGEROUS,  BECAUSE 
THE  BIBLE  AND  ALL  CHRISTIAN  INFLUENCES  ARE  RE 
MOVED,  AND  THE  IDOLATROUS  RITES  AND  PAPAL  MUM 
MERIES  OF  THE  ROMISH  CHURCH  ARE  SUBSTITUTED  IN 
THEIR  PLACE. 

One  of  the  first  evidences  that  the  pupil  has 
passed  from  a  Christian  society  and  Protestant 
associations,  after  entering  a  Roman  Catholic  semi 
nary,  is  the  taking  away  of  the  Bible.  This  is 
invariably  done  to  every  pupil.  Why  is  the  Bible 
taken  away  ?  Does  it  deserve  this  treatment  ?  Is 
it  not  the  revelation  from  heaven  to  man,  in  which 
mercy,  peace,  and  salvation,  are  made  known  to  our 
world ;  the  treasure  of  wisdom  and  truth ;  the  only 
safeguard  of  man's  rights,  and  of  social,  mental, 
moral,  political,  and  religious  liberty  ?  Is  not  that 
mode  of  instruction  to  be  suspected  which  leaves 
out  its  pure  morality,  its  salutary  motives,  its 
sublime  influence  and  precepts?  Can  that  system 


PROTESTANT   EDUCATION   FOR   AMERICANS.      519 

be  right  which  takes  from  the  trunk  of  the  pupil 
this  blessed  Book,  and  robs  the  owner,  not  only  of 
property,  but  of  the  only  guide  of  youth  to  hap 
piness  and  heaven  ?  Is  Rome  afraid  of  the  Bible  ? 
Yes,  we  have  come  to  the  difficulty.  Rome  is 
afraid  of  the  Bible  !  Rome  is  from  beneath, — the 
Bible  is  from  above.  The  light  of  truth  shines  too 
clearly  for  its  toleration.  The  worship  of  the 
Virgin  Mary,  the  Pope,  and  his  infallibility,  his 
cardinals,  and  his  supremacy,  celibacy  of  the  priests, 
purgatory,  images,  beads,  relics,  the  mass,  transub 
stantiation  of  a  wafer,  penances,  and  all  the  pomp 
ous  ceremonies  and  pagan  puerilities,  have  no 
place  in  this  book  of  heaven.  Popery  is  not  found 
in  the  Bible  ;  but  the  Bible  opposes  Popery,  and  all 
its  works  of  darkness.  It  must  not  be  in  the 
possession  of  the  pupil,  for  then  the  human  impos 
tures  and  lucrative  incomes  of  the  priests  and 
Jesuitesses  would  be  exposed.  Having  removed 
this  grand  obstacle  to  their  success,  the  new  pupils 
are  directed  to  those  popish  observances  to  which 
they  have  been  heretofore  strangers.  There  is  no 
consulting  their  inclinations,  nor  the  inclinations 
of  their  parents.  Unquestioned  and  absolute  sub- 


520      PROTESTANT   EDUCATION   FOR   AMERICANS. 

mission  is  required.     They  are  compelled  to  con 
form  to  these  religious  and  pagan  ceremonies. 

In  the  mean  time,  the  pupil  is  totally  unsuspecting 
of  any  design  to  alienate  attachment  to  previous 
ideas  and  parental  modes  of  thinking  and  worship, 
or  to  eradicate  the  lessons  imbibed  from  Protestant 
education.  Knowing  nothing  of  Jesuitism,  —  its 
consummate  art,  its  practised  deceptions,  its  insid 
ious  approaches,  and  bland  addresses,  —  the  new 
pupil  is  easily  deceived,  and,  by  a  gradual,  con 
tinued  process,  becomes  habituated  to  the  impres 
sions  and  instructions  of  the  teachers,  until,  like  a 
bird  in  the  snare  of  the  fowler,  the  web  is  woven 
and  the  innocent  son,  or  daughter,  becomes  a 
Papist.  The  effect  is,  to  bring  the  pupils  to  the 
feet  of  the  monks  and  Jesuitesses,  to  reduce  them 
under  a  yoke  of  superstitious  dread  and  fear,  to 
deprive  the  mind  of  all  elastic  energy,  and  fa 
effeminate  and  dwarf  the  intellect  and  soul.  An 
other  effect  is  to  alienate  the  affections  from  the 
parents,  whom  the  daughter  or  son  is  taught  to 
believe  are  heretics,  and,  therefore,  unworthy  of 
their  confidence  as  guides  in  this  world,  much  less 
as  guides  to  the  next.  Have  you  ever  reflected, 
parents,  upon  the  effect  of  these  papal  delusions  ? 


PROTESTANT   EDUCATION   FOR   AMERICANS.       521 

— the  poison  which  is  inhaled  ?  The  danger  to  which 
your  children  are  exposed,  in  this  respect,  in  these 
seminaries,  is  confirmed  by  numerous  and  incontro 
vertible  testimonies  ;  and,  could  the  examples  and 
the  statements  be  set  before  you  in  all  the  truth 
and  vividness  of  the  reality,  you  would  shrink  from 
these  institutions  with  horror. 

"  Experience,"  says  a  writer,  "  furnishes  many  signal  and 
mournful  examples  of  the  perversion  of  the  minds  of  ingen 
uous  youth,  when  committed  to  the  instruction  of  Roman 
ists.  Never  shall  I  forget  one  remarkable  instance,  which 
occurred  many  years  ago,  not  only  within  the  bounds  of  my 
own  knowledge,  but  in  one  of  the  families  of  my  own  pas 
toral  charge.  An  amiable,  elegant,  and  highly-promising 
youth  was  sent  to  a  Roman  Catholic  seminary,  for  the 
single  object  of  learning,  to  rather  more  advantage  than  was 
otherwise  practicable,  a  polite  living  language.  He  attained 
his  purpose,  but  at  a  dreadful  expense.  He  very  speedily 
became  a  zealous  Papist ;  began  in  a  few  weeks  to  address 
and  reproach  his  parents,  by  letter,  as  blinded  heretics,  out 
of  the  way  of  salvation ;  was  deaf  to  every  remonstrance, 
both  from  them  and  their  pastor,  and  remains  to  the  present 
day  a  devoted,  incorrigible  Romanist.  And  similar  to  this 
is  the  mournful  story  of  hundreds  of  the  sons  and  daughters 
of  Protestant  parents  in  our  land,  who  have  inconsiderately 
and  cruelly  committed  their  children  to  papal  training,  and 
found,  when  too  late,  that  they  had  contracted  a  moral  con 
tagion  never  to  be  eradicated." 

"  I  am  well  acquainted,"  says  Dr.  Sandwith,  "  with  a 
gentleman  of  great  influence,  and  great  ability,  who  has 


522      PROTESTANT   EDUCATION   FOR   AMERICANS. 

seen  much  of  the  world,  and  in  the  course  of  his  travels  on 
the  Continent  was  so  impressed  with  the  importance  of  a 
knowledge  of  the  continental  languages,  that,  in  an  evil 
hour,  he  brought  home  a  Roman  Catholic  governess  to 
instruct  his  children  in  that  accomplishment.  Now,  the 
effect  of  that  did  not  appear  at  first.  His  children  had  been 
generally  taught  the  principles  of  Protestantism,  and  for  a 
while  all  went  on  smoothly.  But,  so  insidious  is  the  prog 
ress  of  Popery,  the  foundations  of  Protestantism  in  that 
family  were  being  sapped  while  no  external  effect  appeared  ; 
but,  after  a  while,  his  wife  went  over  to  the  Roman  Catholic 
church,  and  then  I  need  not  say  in  what  danger  the  whole 
family  were  placed.  Thus  is  Roman  Catholicism  ever  seek 
ing  to  undermine  and  overthrow  Protestantism ;  by  indus 
triously  introducing  Roman  Catholic  governesses  and  Roman 
Catholic  servants  into  Protestant  families,  the  mischief  is 
accomplished  ere  we  are  aware.  It  is  well  for  us  to  be  on 
our  guard." 

The  opposition  of  Popery  to  Protestantism  is 
well  known.  Every  Papist,  as  well  as  the  priests, 
is  bound  by  the  decrees  of  the  Council  of  Trent  to 
oppose,  to  the  utmost  of  his  power,  "heretics," 
that  is,  Protestants.  Hence  Papists,  in  the  United 
States,  are  laid  under  a  solemn  obligation,  at  the 
peril  of  excommunication,  never  to  enter  a  Prot 
estant  church.  The  system  of  education,  infusing 
into  the  minds  of  pupils  this  bitter  hostility  to 
Protestants,  is,  in  the  most  dangerous  sense,  anti- 
republican.  "  Spreading  over  our  cities,  towns, 


PROTESTANT   EDUCATION   FOR   AMERICANS.      523 

and  rural  districts,  enjoying  all  the  advantages  of 
native  citizens,  they  are  not  with  us,  but  against  us. 
While  our  Protestant  people  had  charitably  supposed 
that  Romanism  had  undergone  some  modification 
for  the  better,  yet  it  is  unchanged  in  all  its  essential 
points.  It  has  lost  none  of  its  virulence  and  enmity 
to  Protestants."  Hence,  on  "  Maunday  Thurs 
day,"  once  every  year,  in  Rome,  and  in  all  Catho 
lic  churches  of  the  United  States,  Protestants,  here 
and  all  over  the  world,  are  solemnly,  with  "  bell 
and  candle,"  cursed  and  damned.  Archbishop 
Hughes,  in  his  organ,  the  Freeman's  Journal,  tells 
us,  "Protestantism  is  dangerous  to  the  country. 
All  who  love  truth  and  sustain  right  must  seek  the 
counterbalancing  power  to  disunion  in  the  Catholic 
population  of  the  country."  The  dogmas  enjoining 
this  unchristian  hatred  and  unmitigated  bigotry  to 

Protestants,  and  to  all  who  entertain  different  sen- 

• 

timents,  are  spread  all  over  the  canons  of  the 
Romish  church,  and  have  been  acted  out  in  every 
period  of  its  history.  A  gentleman  writing  from 
Italy  states  the  following  fact : 

"  An  English  lady  lost  a  daughter  at  Rome,  and  on  the 
tomb,  which  was  in  the  English  Protestant  cemetery,  she 
wished  to  have  the  verse  from  St.  Matthew,  '  Blessed  are 
the  pure  in  heart,  for  they  shall  see  God,'  inscribed ;  but  an 


524      PROTESTANT   EDUCATION   FOR  AMERICANS. 

officer  of  the  Pope,  connected  with  the  censorship,  entered 
the  workshop  of  the  statuary  who  was  working  at  the  tomb, 
and  forbade  him  inscribing  more  than  the  first  half  of  the 
verse,  as  he  said  it  was  neither  right  nor  just  that  heretics 
should  see  the  Lord." 

Thousands  of  Protestants  in  the  United  States 
are  ignorant  of  the  workings  of  this  system  ;  that 
it  is  a  system  chiefly  of  proselytism  to  gain  their 
sons  and  daughters  over  to  Rome,  to  secure,  as  far 
as  possible,  the  control  of  their  faculties,  and,  as  a 
consequence,  to  ruin  their  moral  and  mental  quali 
ties,  and  all  their  dearest  hopes  of  heaven. 

4th.  THEY  ARE  DANGEROUS,  BECAUSE  ROMANISM  IN 

ITB  INSTRUCTIONS  AND  FRUITS  IS  IMMORAL. 

The  moral  profligacy  of  the  Romish  priests  and 
nuns  has  for  ages  characterized  the  histories  of  that 
church,  and  filled  with  "astonishment,  loathing, 
and  horror,  the  Christian  world."  The  evidence 
on  this  subject  is  clear  and'  overwhelming.  The 
Popes  of  Rome,  from  Gregory  VIII.,  through  all 
the  succeeding  centuries,  with  scarcely  an  excep 
tion,  were  notorious  for  peculation,  extortion,  glut 
tony,  concubinage,  murder,  perjury,  theft,  lying, 
forgery,  and  other  crimes,  which  served  to  show 
more  than  anything  else  to  what  shameless  degra 
dation  these  lordly  pontiffs  could  descend,  and  how 


PROTESTANT   EDUCATION   FOR  AMERICANS.      525 

much  they  have  deserved  the  universal  execration 
of  mankind.  Parallel  with  these,  and  in  natural 
consistency  with  their  immoral  tenets  and  instruc 
tions,  have  been  the  vices  and  awful  corruptions 
of  monasteries  and  nunneries. 

Unless  we  are  prepared  to  discard  the  accumu 
lating  testimony  of  a  thousand  years  ;  unless  we 
are  willing  to  set  at  naught  the  suffrages  of  the 
greatest  and  best  men  that  ever  adorned  the  church 
of  God  ;  nay,  unless  we  are  prepared  to  reject  the 
confessions  of  some  of  the  most  respectable  Roman 
ists  themselves,  —  we  cannot  evade  the  evidence 
that  many,  very  many,  of  those  boasted  seats  of 
celibacy  and  peculiar  devotedness,  have  been,  in 
reality,  sinks  of  deep  and  awful  licentiousness. 
Indeed,  if  it  were  not  so,  considering  what  human 
nature  is,  and  considering  the  nature  and  manage 
ment  of  those  institutions,  it  would  encroach  on  the 
province  of  miracle. 


CHAPTER    IV. 

THE  tree  is  known  by  its  fruits  ;  the  fruits  are 
known  by  the  tree.  The  fruits  of  priestly  educa 
tion  are  strikingly  seen  in  all  Roman  Catholic  coun 
tries.  What  a  picture  do  Austria,  Rome,  Spain, 
Portugal,  Belgium,  Roman  Catholic  Ireland,  Mex 
ico,  Cuba,  Central  America,  and  the  South  Ameri 
can  states,  present !  The  annals  of  the  world,  in 
no  countries,  can  present  such  an  amount  of  pau 
perism,  ignorance,  crimes,  and  licentiousness.  By 
official  documents,  submitted  to  the  House  of  Com 
mons,  in  1854,  there  were,  in  Catholic  Ireland,  700 
cases  of  murders  in  three  years,  or  54  to  every  mil 
lion  of  inhabitants,  besides  filth,  ignorance,  vices, 
and  other  crimes  of  every  phase  and  degree.  In 
papal  France,  the  existence  and  fruits  of  the  Rom 
ish  religion,  with  priestly  instruction,  have  produced 
a  nation  of  infidels  ;  while,  in  the  city  of  Paris 
alone,  according  to  the  census  in  1854,  there  were 
29,066  legitimate,  and  19,000  illegitimate  chil- 


PROTESTANT   EDUCATION   FOR   AMERICANS.      527 

dren.  In  the  city  of  Vienna,  regarded  as  the  model 
city  of  the  Papacy,  there  were  8,081  legitimate, 
and  10,000  illegitimate  ;  — more  than  half.  But 
priestly  education  in  Rome  itself,  the  very  fountain 
of  the  Papacy,  shows  its  striking  effects.  On  the 
authority  of  Metamier,  out  of  4,543  births,  3,160 
were  foundlings,  three  fourths  of  whom  die  in  the 
Romish  asylums,  while  misery,  rags,  beggary,  indo 
lence,  and  every  species  of  vice  and  immorality, 
abound.  And  this  in  the  consecrated  city  of  the 
Pope,  with  its  10,000  papal  priests,  monks,  nuns, 
and  in  a  population  of  only  130,000  !  Mirabeau 
says  : 

"  A  peasant  who  knows  how  to  read,  in  papal  countries, 
is  a  rare  being.  There  is  often  only  one  school  for  a  whole 
bailiwick  ;  and,  moreover,  the  schoolmasters  are  ignorant  and 
ill-paid.  The  priests  govern  the  whole  nation ;  and  they 
wish  this  state  of  things  to  last,  as  it  is  advantageous  to 
them.  They  increase  superstition  all  they  can,  and  this 
superstition  is  destructive  of  every  kind  of  industry.  The 
infinite  numbers  of  fetes,  pilgrimages,  and  processions,  keep 
up  idleness  and  misery.  In  the  island  of  Sicily  alone, 
there  are  28,000  monks  and  18,000  nuns— in  all,  46,000 
useless  individuals  out  of  a  population  of  1,650,000  souls  ; 
that  is  to  say,  one  idle  monk  amongst  every  35  inhabitants. 
It  is  a  phenomenon  to  find  a  person  among  the  lower  classes 
who  can  either  read  or  write,  throughout  the  insular  and 
continental  part  of  the  kingdom  of  Naples.  This  is,  I  say, 


528      PROTESTANT   EDUCATION   FOR   AMERICANS. 

from  personal  cognizance.  As  a  necessary  consequence,  the 
people  are  a  prey  to  the  most  absurd  superstitions  ;  credu 
lous  believers  in  the  sacrilegious  farces  called  miracles,  such 
as  the  liquefaction  of  the  blood  of  St.  Januarius,  and  other 
similar  tricks  of  priestly  legerdemain,  and  the  blind  instru 
ments  of  scheming  priests." 

Dr.  Giustiniani,  in  a  late  work,  described  the 
immoral  lives  of  the  priests  in  Rome  as  a  thing  so 
common  that  it  excites  little  surprise,  except  with 
strangers.  He  speaks  of  the  moral  corruptions  of 
auricular  confession,  the  depth  of  pollutions  which 
characterize  this  feature  of  priestly  power.  "  But 
why,"  says  he,  "should  I  speak  of  this  moral 
depravity  of  Popery  in  Rome  ?  It  is  everywhere 
the  same.  It  appears  differently,  but  never  changes 
its  character.  In  America,  where  female  virtue  is 
the  characteristic  of  the  nation,  it  is  under  the  con 
trol  of  the  priest.  If  a  Roman  Catholic  lady,  the 
wife  of  a  free  American,  should  choose  to  have  the 
priest  in  her  bedroom,  she  has  only  to  pretend  to 
be  indisposed,  and,  asking  for  the  spiritual  father, 
the  confessor,  no  other  person,  not  even  the  hus 
band,  dare  enter.  In  Rome,  it  would  be  at  the 
risk  of  his  life  ;  in  America,  at  the  risk  of  being 
excommunicated,  and  deprived  of  all  spiritual  priv 
ileges  of  the  church,  and  even  excluded  from 


PROTESTANT   EDUCATION   FOR  AMERICANS.      529 

heaven."  Such,  parents,  all  over  the  papal  world, 
are  the  baneful  and  dangerous  effects  of  coming  in 
contact  with  priests  and  Popery.  Can  you  consent 

% 

to  place  your  children  under  their  influence  and 
power  ?  Are  you  willing  to  hazard  their  mental 
and  moral  training  to  such  hands? — to  hazard  all 
that  is  dear  in  life  ? 

5th.  ROMAN  CATHOLIC  SEMINARIES  ARE  DANGEROUS, 

BECAUSE  THEY  DENY  LIBERTY  OF  OPINION,  AND  SUBJU 
GATE  THE  CONSCIENCE. 

The  conscience  belongs  to  the  individual,  and  is 
responsible  to  no  human  being,  but  to  God  alone. 
In  the  Declaration  of  Independence  and  the  federal 
constitution,  no  more  sacred  principle  was  enunci 
ated  than  the  liberty  of  private  judgment,  or  opin 
ion,  and  freedom  of  conscience.  This  right  is 
inherited  by  creation ;  no  human  or  ecclesiastical 
governments  can  confer  it  or  take  it  away.  It  is 
the  birthright  of  the  individual,  and  inalienable. 
But  the  hierarchy  of  Rome,  in  its  insatiable  thirst 
for  power  and  blasphemous  presumption,  claims  the 
conscience  of  every  human  being.  We  need  not  ask 
where  it  derived  this  claim  ;  for  the  demand  is  so 
absurd  that  nature,  reason,  and  heaven,  at  once  be 
lie  it,  and  declare  its  foul  usurpation.  It,  of  course, 
23 


530      PROTESTANT   EDUCATION   FOR   AMERICANS. 

like  every  other  tyrannical  usurpation  of  that  cor 
rupt  church,  only  proves  its  astonishing  impudence 
in  making  the  demand.  But,  nevertheless,  it  issues 
its  dogmas  and  decrees  to  this  effect,  and  from  the* 
eleventh  century  to  this  hour  has  subjugated  the 
conscience  of  its  votaries.  They  must  think  as  the 
church — that  is,  the  priests — think.  They  must 
not  dare  to  assume  the  exercise  of  reason  and  free 
dom  of  conscience  in  any  matters  of  faith,  or  in 
what  concerns  the  priesthood  ;  for  the  priests  alone, 
not  the  Bible,  nor  heaven,  enact  their  rules  and 
publish  their  dogmas  by  which  they  claim  the  con 
science.  Pope  Pius  IX.,  only  a  few  years  ago,  de 
nounced  the  liberty  of  the  press,  and  all  Bible 
societies ;  and  Archbishop  Hughes  confines  the 
same  liberty  of  conscience  to  the  interior  of  the 
soul.  "There  is  not,"  says  he,  "a  single  reli 
gious  book,  of  common  reputation,  in  the  Roman 
Catholic  church,  which  does  not  make  unlimited 
obedience  to  a  priestly  confessor  the  safest  and 
most  perfect  way  to  salvation." 

Are  you  ready,  parents,  to  commit  your  daugh 
ters  to  the  guidance  and  care  of  Jesuits  and  Jesuit- 
esses,  whose  one  great  aim  is  to  teach  them  to  re 
nounce  the  native  sentiment  of  liberty,  to  proselyte 


PROTESTANT   EDUCATION   FOR   AMERICANS.      531 

them  to  their  faith,  and  to  get  hold  of  the  con 
science  ?  Do  you  consent  that  they  should  surren 
der  this  right,  this  American  principle,  the  grand 
principle  of  their  indefeasible  inheritance  ?  But,  by 
placing  them  in  Romish  seminaries,  you  place  them 
in  a  situation  where,  from  all  past  experience,  not 
one  in  twenty,  if  one  at  all,  ever  escapes  the  snare. 
The  conductors  of  these  establishments  make  to  you 
very  fair  promises,  and  will  deny  any  attempt  at 
creating  a  sectarian  feeling,  with  a  view  to  detach 
their  affections  from  the  ties  of  family  or  home,  or 
to  alienate  their  free  Protestant  preferences ;  but 
it  is  the  art  of  their  profession  to  deceive,  and  their 
very  oath  and  their  invariable  practice  contradict 
these  statements.  One  of  the  maxims  of  Jesuits 
is,  to  prevaricate,  to  affirm,  or  deny,  as  the  case 
requires.  Another  maxim  is,  "the  end  justifies 
the  means ;  "  and  as  any  means  for  their  interest 
are  justified,  so  truth  or  lying  is  equally  ready  at 
their  command.  And  so  common  is  this  vice  of 
lying,  not  only  among  the  Jesuits,  but  among  the 
more  ignorant  Papists,  that  the  remark  of  the  fact 
is  proverbial  among  Protestants.  And  the  wonder 
ceases  when  it  is  known  that  the  maxims  of  the 
Jesuits  inculcate  duplicity  and  deceit  in  all  their 


532      PROTESTANT  EDUCATION   FOR  AMERICANS. 

phases.  For  the  proof  of  this,  we  need  only  refer 
to  their  rules  and  instructions  contained  in  their 
published  books,  and  in  the  "Moral  Theologies" 
of  Ligori,  Escobar,  Bellarmine,  and  Dens,  which 
are  the  text-books  for  candidates  preparing  for  the 
priesthood  in  the  Roman  Catholic  college  at  May- 
nooth,  Ireland,  and  in  all  similar  institutions  in 
Europe  and  America. 

6th.    THESE  SEMINARIES  ARE  DANGEROUS,  BECAUSE, 

UNDER  THEIR  PLAUSIBLE  DISGUISE,  ROME  HOPES  TO 
REPEL  THE  CHARGE  THAT  SHE  IS  HOSTILE  TO  KNOWL 
EDGE,  AND  THUS  ENTICE  PROTESTANT  SONS  AND  DAUGH 
TERS  TO  BECOME  THE  VICTIMS  OF  THEIR  TREACHEROUS 
PURPOSES. 

This  proposition,  that  Rome  is  hostile  to  knowl 
edge,  would  seem  paradoxical,  since  the  Romish 
church  boasts  of  being  the  channel  of  the  transmis 
sion  of  learning  for  six  hundred  years  before  the 
invention  of  printing  in  the  fifteenth  century,  and 
exhibits  such  zealous  endeavors  to  set  up  schools  and 
colleges  in  the  United  States.  But  we  shall  show 
that  these  pretensions  of  Rome  are  but  deception  ; 
that  they  are  intended  to  create  a  false  impression 
over  the  minds  both  of  Papists  and  Protestants  in  the 
United  States.  That  Rome  is  the  enemy  of  knowledge, 


PROTESTANT   EDUCATION  FOR   AMERICANS.      533 

that  is,  opposed  to  the  general  diffusion  of  it  among 
the  body  of  the  people,  is  a  truth  conclusively  estab 
lished  by  such  facts  and  considerations  as  the  fol 
lowing,  namely :  There  have  been  other  channels 
beside  Rome  to  transmit  the  learning  of  previous 
centuries,  namely,  the  Greek  church,  whose  patri 
archs,  through  the  whole  existence  of  the  Romish 
church,  have  been  cotemporary  and  in  regular  par 
allel  succession  with  the  Popes,  down  to  the  present 
day.  The  Greek  church  is  as  old  as  the  Roman  ; 
and  so  is  the  Waldensian  church,  which,  through 
all  the  persecuting  wars  which  Rome  waged  against 
her  during  the  dark  ages,  still  preserved  her  sep 
arate  identity.  The  Popes,  certainly,  have  care 
fully  preserved  whatever  works  of  great  writers  she 
possessed,  for  the  simple  reason  that  they  very 
rigorously  locked  their  books  up  in  the  libraries, 
not  allowing  any  one  to  open  a  single  volume,  — 
they  were  forbidden  books.  It  was  no  difficulty,  ifc 
can  easily  be  imagined,  for  the  Popes  to  preserve 
their  books  for  centuries,  as  we  shall  show  in  the 
next  chapter. 


CHAPTER    V. 

CARDINAL  WISEMAN,  in  his  lecture,  delivered  in 
Leeds,  said  that  science,  literature,  and  the  arts, 
never  flourished  more  luxuriantly  than  under  the 
papal  system,  and  that  the  Romish  church  is  the 
mother  of  all  wisdom.  In  proof  of  this  proposition, 
he  refers  to  Italy.  He  said,  in  substance,  Italy  is 
the  first  country  in  Europe  in  point  of  talent  and 
genius,  and  it  is  also  the  foremost  country  of  the 
papal  dominion  ;  therefore,  the  papal  domination  is 
the  immediate  creator  and  patron  of  lofty  genius 
in  science,  literature,  and  art.  That  is  evidently 
false ;  for  Ireland  is  the  greatest  country  in  the 
United  Kingdom  for  talent,  producing  the  best 
order  of  poets,  orators,  and  scientific  and  literary 
men.  But  Ribbon  Societies  are  an  exclusively 
Irish  institution ;  therefore  Ribbon  Societies  pro 
duce  the  best  orators,  poets,  statesmen,  and  literary 
people,  of  all  the  United  Kingdom.  Is  not  that  as 
good  an  argument  as  Cardinal  Wiseman's?  If  in 
Italy  there  is  still  great  genius,  it  is  not  because 


PROTESTANT   EDUCATION   FOB   AMERICANS.      535 

Italy  is  under  papal  dominion,  but  it  is  because 
Italy  is  Italy,  and  she  produces  great  genius  not 
by  the  ruling  of  the  Pope,  but  because  it  is,  as  it 
were,  the  natural  product  of  her  sun  and  soil.  It 
was  not  a  Pope  that  called  forth  the  genius  of  a 
Cicero,  a  Virgil,  a  Livy,  and  a  Horace,  and  all 
the  ancient  poets  and  orators.  Her  genius  is  not 
from  the  Pope,  but  it  is  in  spite  of  the  Pope  and 
Popery.  Therefore,  the  great  men  of  that  country 
appertain  to  Italy,  and  not  to  the  Vatican.  In 
Rome  itself,  the  Popes,  in  many  instances,  have 
been  destroyers  instead  of  conservators  of  the  glo 
rious  works  of  antiquity.  Pope  Barberini  destroyed 
the  Coliseum,  in  order  to  build  palaces  for  his 
bastard  children  with  the  venerable  marbles  of  that 
once  splendid  edifice  ;  whilst  Urban  robbed  the 
Pantheon  of  many  of  its  glories.  What  has  the 
Roman  Catholic  church  done  to  compare  with  the 
memorials  of  the  ancient  Roman  civilization  ?  The 
dome — the  great  beauty  of  the  Basilica  of  St.  Peter 
— -  is  the  dome  of  the  ancient  Pantheon  ;  that  is, 
the  idea  was  taken  by  Michael  Angelo  from  that 
building.  Certainly,  the  Popes,  not  for  the  sake 
of  the  people,  but  for  their  own  advantage,  built 
many  very  fine  churches,  and  they  employed  able 


536     PROTESTANT   EDUCATION   FOR   AMERICANS. 

artists  to  beautify  them.  Wiseman  spoke  of  Dante, 
Petrarch,  Boccacio,  and  Galileo,  in  support  of 
his  proposition.  But  Dante  was  persecuted  by  the 
Popes,  and  his  works  were  forbidden  to  be  read 
until  two  centuries  ago ;  the  Jesuits  even  now 
exclude  his  writings  from  their  schools.  Petrarch 
was  forbidden  to  be  read,  too,  because  he  wroio 
two  sonnets  satirizing  a  Pope.  Boccacio  is  also 
denounced ;  in  fact,  all  the  great  writers  of  Italy 
have  been  placed  in  the  Inquisitorial  Index  Expur- 
gatorius.  That  is  the  patronage  of  the  Roman 
church  for  men  of  letters. 

The  figure  of  St.  Peter,  which  Rome  boasts  of 
being  such  a  noble  specimen  of  art,  and  which  is 
placed  for  admiring  reverence  in  her  temple,  is  an 
ancient  bronze  Jupiter.  The  splendid  ruins  of  art 
left  by  pagan  Rome  to  papal  Rome  only  served  to 
the  latter  as  quarries.  By  accident  of  position, 
papal  Rome  became  trustee  ;  but  a  more  reckless 
and  scandalous  trustee  there  never  was  than  the 
Vatican  proved  for  ages.  The  fairest  columns  of 
the  Ionic  and  Corinthian  orders  were  torn  down 
from  their  porticos,  and  broken  up  for  building 
material.  The  marbles  of  Paros  and  Numidia  were 
burned  for  lime.  Ever  since  the  admiration  of 


PEOTESTANT   EDUCATION   FOR  AMERICANS.      537 

strangers  for  what  remained,  after  ages  of  such 
waste,  awoke  Rome  to  the  value  of  her  treasures, 
she  has  been  their  careful  custodian.  But,  without 
doubt,  all  the  destruction  wrought  upon  the  monu 
ments  of  antiquity  by  all  the  Goths  and  Vandals 
that  ever  set  foot  in  Rome  was  a  bagatelle  to  the 
dilapidation  carried  on  by  the  Popes.  Let  this 
boast,  therefore,  of  Cardinal  Wiseman,  and  the 
priestly  and  lay  lecturers  in  the  United  States,  of 
Rome's  being  the  warm  and  liberal  patron  of  ex 
pansive  genius  and  learning,  no  longer  impose  upon 
superficial  minds  and  credulous  Protestants.  Rome 
has  always  shackled  the  human  faculties  ;  always 
cramped  human  genius ;  always  kept  the  Scriptures 
shut  up  from  the  people  ;  always  performed  much 
of  her  service  in  an  unknown  tongue  ;  always  op 
posed  liberal  investigations  of  either  morals,  phi 
losophy,  or  theology. 

Did  she  not  condemn  Galileo  for  asserting  a  true 
problem  of  science  ?  Did  not  her  hostility  to  the 
culture  of  the  masses,  and  closing  the  fountains  of 
literature,  and  discouraging  light  and  knowledge, 
create  the  '*  Dark  Ages  "?  Did  she  not  thunder 
forth  her  bull  against  the  inventor  of  the  art  of 
printing,  and  tremble  when  the  first  Bible  appeared 
23* 


538      PROTESTANT   EDUCATION   FOR   AMERICANS. 

in  type  ?  Did  she  not  frame  the  Index  Expurgato- 
rius,  which  put  an  interdict  upon  many  of  the 
most  splendid  works  of  learning,  and  which  is  still 
in  full  force,  with  many  additions  of  the  most  valu 
able  and  popular  books,  such  a  Milton,  Macaulay's 
History,  Irving' s  Life  of  Washington,  and  numerous 
other  kindred  works,  which  contain  liberal  ideas, 
and  advocate  the  freedom  of  man?  What  anathe 
mas  and  execrations  did  she  pour  out  upon  the 
illustrious  refbrmer,  Luther,  for  advocating  free 
inquiry,  and  opening  the  sources  of  knowledge  ! 
And  have  not  her  priests  and  most  prominent 
writers,  participating  in  this  spirit  of  defamation, 
assailed  that  defender,  and  all  the  reformers  who 
shone  as  bright  lights  amid  Rome's  moral  and 
intellectual  darkness,  and  emitted  their  fruitful 
venom  ?  Have  not  the  priests  and  Romish  presses 
in  our  country  denounced  liberal  inquiry  and  Prot 
estant  education,  which  favors  the  free  and  manly 
improvement  of  the  mind,  and  the  development  of 
all  its  rational  and  noble  faculties  ? 

Macaulay,  in  his  History,  observes  that,  "  The 
loveliest  provinces  in  Europe  have,  under  the  rule 
of  Rome,  been  sunk  in  poverty,  in  political  servi 
tude,  and  in  intellectual  torpor ;  while  Protestant 


PROTESTANT   EDUCATION   FOR   AMERICANS.      539 

countries,  once  proverbial  for  their  sterility  and 
barbarism,  have  been  turned  by  skill  and  industry 
into  gardens,  and  can  boast  of  a  long  list  of  heroes, 
statesmen,  philosophers,  and  poets."  Yes,  Rome 
is  an  enemy  to  the  human  race,  and  seeks  to  hide 
the  "key  of  knowledge"  from  all  within  her 
withering  influence.  We  could  write  not  merely  a 
few  brief  paragraphs,  but  a  volume,  to  illustrate 
this  truth.  The  following  specimens,  among  num 
berless  others  which  are  passing  in  the  world,  to 
establish  the  proof  of  our  proposition,  we  present 
to  the  reader. 

"  The  Univers,  the  most  celebrated  organ  of  the  Jesuits 
in  France,"  says  the  Congregatwnalist,  "is  speaking 
openly  against  the  use  of  the  living  languages  or  popular 
idioms  in  the  sciences,  letters,  and  arts,  as  well  as  in  theol 
ogy,  and  regrets  that  books  are  not  now  written  in  Latin,  as 
in  the  middle  ages.  All  knowledge  must  be  confined  to  a 
few  select  minds,  in  order  that  the  priests  may  retain  an 
unbroken  hold  on  the  multitude ;  wide  and  thorough  discus 
sions  on  any  subject  are  dangerous,  because  they  liberalize 
the  mind,  and  cherish  the  thirst  for  intellectual  improve 
ment  that  ill  comports  with  the  great  aims  of  Romanism,  — 
to  bind  the  world  over  to  ignorance,  for  the  sake  of  pecuni 
ary  accumulation.  The  time  was,  till  the  seventeenth  cen 
tury,  when  books  on  medicine,  history,  the  natural  sciences, 
astronomy,  and  politics,  were  written  in  Latin,  and  the 
common  people  were  excluded  from  all  knowledge,  except 


540      PROTESTANT  EDUCATION   FOB    AMERICANS. 

of  the  catechism,  which  the  curate  taught  them ;  the  return 
of  such  times  is  equivalent  to  the  return  of  '  the  golden  age ' 
in  the  eyes  of  the  Jesuit  fathers,  and  for  it  they  are  laboring, 
though  in  their  labors  at  sowing  the  wind,  they  are  prepar 
ing  to  reap  the  whirlwind." 

Sir  Walter  Scott,  in  his  "Life  of  Napoleon."  alluding  to 
Spain,  says,  "The  education  of  the  nobility  was  committed 
to  the  priests,  who  took  care  to  give  them  no  lights  beyond 
Catholic  bigotry." 

M.  Leone,  an  Italian,  settled  in  England,  now 
engaged  on  the  great  work  of  the  codification  of 
the  commercial  laws  of  Great  Britain,  paid  a  visit 
to  Italy  during  the  Italian  republic. 

"On  the  fall  of  the  pontifical  government,"  said  he, 
"  the  republicans  immediately  established  schools  in  every 
town,  and  village,  and  rural  district.  There  were  day- 
schools,  and  night-schools,  and  Sabbath-schools.  I  was 
inexpressibly  delighted  at  the  wonderful  change.  But,  ah  ! 
back  came  the  Pope ;  and  in  a  week,  in  one  short  week, 
every  one  of  these  schools  was  closed  !  Italy  is  again  sunk 
in  its  old  torpor  and  stagnation,  and  one  black  cloud  of 
barbaric  ignorance  extends  from  the  Mediterranean  to  the 
Adriatic!  I  sat  down,"  says  he,  "on  the  steps  of  the 
Temple  of  Vesta,  which,  though  crumbling  with  age,  is  one 
of  the  most  beautiful  of  the  ruins  of  Rome.  Three  boys, 
the  eldest  fifteen  years  of  age,  came  about  me,  to  beg  a  few 
baicchi.  I  took  an  opportunity  of  putting  a  few  questions 
to  them,  judging  them  a  fair  sample  of  the  Roman  youth. 
The  following  dialogue  occurred  : 

'"Can  you  tell  me,'  I  asked,  'who  made  the  world? 


PROTESTANT   EDUCATION   FOR  AMERICANS.      541 

The  question  started  a  subject  on  which  they  seemed  never 
to  have  thought  before.  They  stood  in  a  muse  for  some  sec 
onds;  and  then  all  three  looked  around  them,  as  if  they 
expected  to  see  the  world's  Maker,  or  to  read  his  name 
somewhere.  At  last  the  youngest  and  smartest  of  the  three 
spoke  briskly  up,  '  The  masons,  Signore.'  It  was  now  my 
turn  to  feel  the  excitement  of  a  new  idea.  Yet  I  thought  I 
could  see  the  train  of  thought  that  led  to  the  answer.  The 
masons  had  made  the  baths  of  Caracalla ;  the  masons  had 
made  the  Coliseum,  and  those  other  stupendous  structures 
which  in  bulk  rival  the  hills,  and  seem  as  eternal  as  the 
earth  on  which  they  rest ;  and  why  might  not  the  masons 
have  made  the  whole  affair  ?  I  might  have  puzzled  the  boy 
by  asking,  '  But  who  made  the  masons  ? '  My  object, 
however,  was  simply  to  ascertain  the  amount  of  his  knowl 
edge.  I  demurred  to  the  proposition  that  the  masons  had 
made  the  world,  and  desired  them  to  try  again.  They  did 
try  again ;  and  at  last  the  eldest  of  the  three  found  his  way 
to  the  right  answer,  —  '  God.'  '  Have  you  ever  heard  of 
Christ?'  I  asked.  'Yes.'  'Who  is  he?  Can  you  tell 
me  anything  about  him  ? '  I  could  elicit  nothing  under 
these  heads.  '  Whose  Son  is  he  ? '  I  then  asked.  '  He  is 
Mary's  Son,'  was  the  reply.  'Where  is  Christ?'  I  in 
quired.  'He  is  on  the  Cross,'  replied  the  boy,  folding  his 
arms,  and  making  the  representation  of  a  crucifix.  '  Was 
Christ  ever  on  earth  ? '  I  asked.  He  did  not  know.  '  Are 
you  aware  of  anything  he  ever  did  ? '  He  had  never  heard 
of  anything  that  Christ  had  done.  I  saw  that  he  was  think 
ing  of  those  hideous  representations  which  are  to  be  seen  in 
all  the  churches  of  Rome,  of  a  man  hanging  on  a  cross. 
That  was  the  Christ  of  the  boys.  Of  Christ  the  Son  of  the 
living  God,  —  of  Christ  the  Saviour  of  sinners,  and  of  his 
death  as  an  atonement  for  human  guilt,  —  they  had  never 


542      PROTESTANT   EDUCATION   FOR   AMERICANS. 

heard.  In  a  city  swarming  with  professed  ministers  of  the 
Gospel,  these  boys  knew  no  more  of  Christianity  than  if  they 
had  been  Hottentots." 

And  now,  in  the  view  of  all  these  clear  and 
positive  evidences,  from  her  history  and  uniform 
practice,  that  Rome  is  hostile  to  knowledge,  we 
ask,  how  is  it  that  Rome  is  so  zealously  engaged 
in  setting  up  schools  and  seminaries  in  the  United 
States  ?  The  answer  is  ready  at  hand :  It  is  to 
create  an  impression  on  the  minds  of  our  Protest 
ant  people  that  she  is  a  warm  friend  to  education. 
In  this  land  of  light  and  intelligence,  she  is  neces 
sarily  forced  to  put  on  an  appearance  of  being  that 
patron,  to  avoid  the  imputation  of  the  opposite 
charge,  which  she,  with  adroit  Jesuitism,  knows 
would  be  injurious  to  her  interests,  and  might 
entirely  frustrate  all  her  plans  of  papal  aggrandize 
ment  and  influence.  She  must,  therefore,  assume 
this  pretension,  and  appear  to  be  the  friend  of 
education.  But,  in  the  midst  of  all  these  attempts 
to  delude  superficial  Protestants,  the  "cloven  foot" 
protrudes,  the  symbolic  type  of  its  owner.  She 
arrogantly  approaches  the  state  superintendent  and 
committees  of  schools,  and  demands  the  exclusion 
of  the  Bible  from  Protestant  schools.  These  Prot- 


PROTESTANT   EDUCATION   FOR   AMERICANS.      543 

estant  officers,  not  being  adepts  in  the  crafty 
schemes  of  this  enemy  of  our  noble  system  of 
education,  thoughtlessly  complied,  in  some  in 
stances,  with  the  demand,  and  thus  betrayed  the 
high  trust  reposed  in  them.  The  next  subtle 
design  was,  to  demand  of  the  Legislature  to  divide 
the  school  funds  of  the  state,  to  favor  her  Jesuit 
sectarian  plan  of  separate  schools  for  her  sectarian 
ends.  In  this  she  has  not  yet  succeeded.  Other 
demands  she  has  made,  all  going  to  establish  the 
fact  that  Rome  is  hostile  to  knowledge,  and,  with 
a  seeming  zeal,  establishes  schools  and  seminaries, 
to  entice  Protestant  parents  to  send  their  daughters 
and  sons  into  them,  more  effectually  to  accomplish 
her  objects. 

In  conclusion,  let  me  appeal  to  all  classes  of  our 
people.  Patriots,  do  you  love  your  country  ?  Do 
you  value  the  priceless  legacy  transmitted  by  the 
fathers  of  the  Revolution  ?  Do  you  appreciate  and 
rejoice  in  its  Protestant  laws,  institutions,  and  gov 
ernment  ;  in  its  charter  of  independence  ;  in  the 
value  of  its  American  system  of  education,  and  in 
its  model  schools,  which  approach  nearer  to  perfec 
tion  than  any  yet  devised  by  the  skill,  wisdom, 
experience,  and  genius,  of  man  ?  Are  you  awake 


544      PROTESTANT   EDUCATION   FOR   AMERICANS. 

to  guard  inviolate  these  inestimable  privileges  and 
sentinels  of  liberty  from  the  touch  of  ruthless 
hands,  and  from  the  spoliation  and  corruptions  of 
the  invader  ?  Then  never  let  the  public  funds  be 
used  for  sectarian,  foreign  purposes ;  and  give  no 
countenance  to  papal  approaches,  whose  hierarchy 
is  the  bane  of  knowledge,  and  in  deadly  hostility 
to  this  free  republic.  The  following  document, 
from  the  Roman  Catholic  journal  at  Buffalo,  will 
show  the  confidence  with  which  that  hierarchy  is 
at  work  in  the  United  States  : 

"  Whoever  undervalues  the  spiritual  power  of  the  church 
in  the  United  States  wanders  in  a  fearful  labyrinth.  We 
have  not  only  seven  archbishops,  thirty-three  bishops,  and 
seventeen  hundred  and  four  priests,  all  in  the  service  of  the 
Pope  and  the  church,  but  we  have  also  thirty-one  colleges, 
thirty-seven  seminaries,  and  a  hundred  and  seventeen  female 
academies,  all  founded  by  the  Jesuits,  bringing  danger  and 
death  to  unbelief  and  mischief,  to  American  Know-nothing- 
ism,  and  un-American  radicalism.  And  the  hierarchal 
band  which,  like  a  golden  thread,  surrounds  forty-one  dio 
ceses  and  two  apostolic  vicarites,  and  stretches  from  the 
Atlantic  Ocean  to  the  still  waters  of  the  Pacific,  and  main 
tains  an  invisible  secret  magnetic  connection  with  Rome,  — 
this  hierarchy  is  to  us  a  sure  guarantee  that  the  church, 
perhaps  after  severe  struggles  and  sufferings,  will  one  day 
come  off  victorious  over  all  the  sects  of  America.  It  is 
computed  that  there  are,  at  present,  more  than  two  millions 
of  Catholic  inhabitants  in  the  United  States  who  are  bap- 


PKOTESTANT  EDUCATION   FOR  AMERICANS.      545 

tized  and  confirmed  Catholic  soldiers  of  the  Lord,  and  who, 
at  the  first  summons,  will  assemble  in  rank  and  file ;  then 
will  men  not  undervalue  the  power  of  the  Catholic  church 
in  the  United  States.  I  will  scatter  sand  in  no  one's  eyes, 
and  therefore  I  stand  forth  openly,  and  directly  declare  that 
the  power  and  the  influence  of  the  Catholic  church  are 
stronger  than  many  believe.  Whoever  doubts  this  must  be 
either  a  fool,  or  blind." 

In  this  document,  my  countrymen,  weigh  the 
expressions,  *  *  the  secret  magnetic  connection  with 
Rome,"  and  that  these  papal  seminaries  and  col 
leges  are  "  all  founded  by  the  Jesuits  ;  "  and  then 
consider  the  dangers  which  hover  over  our  land. 

Fathers,  mothers,  do  you  love  your  children? 
Can  you  intrust  the  dearest  objects  upon  which 
your  parental  hopes,  and  the  joys  of  the  family 
roof,  centre,  to  the  supervision  and  charge  of  Jes 
uits  and  Jesuitesses  ?  Why  do  the  conductors  of 
these  papal  seminaries  manifest  such  a  remarkable 
zeal  in  pursuit  of  females,  and  especially  the 
daughters  of  Protestant  parents  ?  They  know 
that,  in  gaining  them,  they  can  secure  the  most 
powerful  influence,  and  often  gratify  their  avari 
cious  desires  in  greater  profits  ;  but  the  one  great 
end  they  have  in  view  is,  to  proselyte  them  to  their 
faith.  Remember,  they  give  a  special  preference 
to  Protestants.  They  select  the  most  wealthy  and 


546      PROTESTANT   EDUCATION  FOR  AMERICANS. 

beautiful,  and  persuade  them  to  the  confessional 
and  into  the  convent ;  and,  when  once  secured 
there,  they  become  the  slaves  of  a  tyrannic  priest 
hood.  0,  could  you  comprehend  their  designs,  — 
could  you  penetrate  into  one  tithe  of  their  art,  and 
ruinous  plots  against  the  life,  honor,  and  liberty, 
of  your  daughters,  —  you  would  start  back  aghast 
at  the  insidious  and  fatal  sacrifice  of  the  objects 
and  images  of  your  affection.  Could  the  secrets 
of  the  confessionals  be  uncovered,  there  is  not  a 
priest  that  could  stay  in  the  city  of  New  York,  or 
Baltimore,  or  Philadelphia,  one  week.  Pause, 
then,  parents,  I  beg  of  you,  while  your  daughters 
are  safe  on  this  side  of  an  admission  into  these 
pestiferous  and  ruinous  establishments  ! 


HON.  EDWIN  0.  PERRIN. 

THE  father  of  this  American,  the  late  Judge  Perrin,  of 
Maryland,  became  one  of  the  earliest  settlers  of  Ohio,  and 
at  Springfield,  in  that  state,  the  subject  of  this  sketch  was 
born.  The  death  of  his  father,  and  the  consequent  depri 
vation  of  young  Perrin' s  patrimony  by  the  injudicious 
management  of  his  estate,  obliged  him,  like  most  of  the 
public  men  of  our  country,  to  become  the  architect  of  his 
own  fortune.  After  acquiring  a  suitable  education  by  his 
industry  and  energy,  he  adopted  the  law  as  his  profession, 
and  studied  with  Judge  Mason,  of  Ohio.  Mr.  Perrin  sub 
sequently  removed  to  Memphis,  Tennessee,  where  he  mar 
ried  Miss  Stanton,  sister  of  the  Hons.  Richard  and  Fred 
erick  P.  Stanton,  late  Representatives  in  Congress  from 
Kentucky  and  Tennessee  and  who,  estimable  for  every 
excellence  and  virtue,  is  also  admired  for  her  intelligence, 
beauty,  and  accomplishments. 

Under  the  administration  of  Gen.  Taylor,  Mr.  Perrin  was 
appointed  navy  agent  of  Memphis,  and  discharged  the  duties 
of  that  office  with  fidelity  and  faithfulness,  until  the  acces 
sion  of  Franklin  Pierce,  who  found  Mr.  Perrin's  political 
principles  good  cause  for  removal.  He  then  removed  to  the 
city  of  New  York  to  pursue  his  profession,  and  united  with 
the  great  American  party  in  the  attempt  to  restore  the 
country  to  its  pristine  integrity  and  purity.  In  the  elections 
of  1855  he  became  the  eloquent  defender  of  American 


548  HON.    EDWIN   0.    PERRIN. 

principles  upon  the  hustings,  and  the  people  greeted  him 
with  enthusiasm  wherever  he  was  heard  in  that  cause.  A 
company  of  volunteers,  soon  after  the  success  of  the  Ameri 
can  ticket  in  New  York,  was  organized  as  the  "  Perrin 
Guard,"  in  that  city ;  and  in  contending  for  the  prize  of  a 
magnificent  silver  basket,  presented  by  Mr.  Perrin,  the  cap 
tain  of  that  company  said :  "  Our  distinguished  guest,  Edwin 
0.  Perrin :  One  of  Tennessee's  ablest  orators.  We  extend 
to  him  a  cordial  welcome  to  the  home  of  his  adoption,  the 
Empire  City  of  the  Empire  State.  Long  may  he  live  to 
defend  with  eloquent  tongue  our  common  country  and  our 
country's  cause  !  Having  adopted  his  name,  let  us  emulate 
his  devotion  !  "  Mr.  Perrin  closed  his  speech  with  the  follow 
ing: 

"  The  Volunteer  Soldiery  of  New  York :  A  standing 
army  in  time  of  peace,  and  no  running  army  in  time  of  war. 
Their  discipline  and  courage  at  home  have  only  been  equalled 
by  their  patriotism  and  bravery  abroad.  May  the  junior 
American  corps  prove  worthy  descendants  of  their  gallant 
seniors;  maintaining  for  the  future  what  they  have  so 
gallantly  achieved  in  the  past." 

After  the  nomination  of  the  American  Presidential  ticket, 
Mr.  Perrin  appeared  again  in  the  political  field,  to  press  with 
eloquence  and  earnestness  the  election  of  Millard  Fillmore 
to  the  chief  magistracy  of  the  nation.  Like  the  heroes  of 
our  Revolutionary  battles,  he  put  aside  all  other  pursuits  for 
the  American  cause,  and  is  now  winning  "golden  opinions," 
throughout  the  State  of  New  York,  for  the  intelligent  per 
suasions  and  thrilling  appeals  he  is  making  to  the  patriotism 
of  the  people,  and  which  are  the  more  effectively  enforced 
because  of  the  impregnable  defences  which  surround  and 
elevate  his  character. 


HON.    EDWIN   0.   PERRIN.  549 

The  genius  and  oratory  of  Mr.  Perrin,  are  not  only  emi 
nently  original,  but  the  peculiarity  of  his  style  gives  him  great 
individuality.  He  is  animated  and  bold,  and  attracts  and  cap 
tivates  his  audience  by  his  wit  and  humor.  The  extract,  from 
a  well-known  democratic  organ  of  the  State  of  New  York,  will 
show  the  estimate  in  which  he  is  held,  in  this  connection,  with 
out  regard  to  party  consideration  : 

The  Fillmore  men  had  a  large  meeting  at  the  Court-house  in  this  city 
last  Saturday  evening.  Every  seat  and  vacant  place  was  filled.  Hon. 
E.  0.  Perrin  was  the  speaker.  Mr.  Perrin  was  formerly  from  Tennessee, 
but  is  now  a  resident  of  this  State.  He  is  a  young  man,  not  far,  w« 
should  say,  from  thirty  years  of  age,  yet  he  is  one  of  the  most  eloquent 
orators,  and  captivating  speakers  we  ever  heard  in  our  life.  We  have 
listened  to  the  graceful  oratory  of  Henry  Clay  ;  we  have  been  riveted  to 
our  seat  by  the  fascinating  voice,  pleasing  gestures,  and  sublime  eloquence 
of  Wm.  C.  Preston,  of  South  Carolina ;  we  have  heard  the  gifted  Breck- 
inridge,  and  been  carried  away  captive  on  the  wings  of  his  matchless 
eloquence ;  we  have  been  one  of  a  thousand  who  have  been  moved  first 
to  tears,  and  then  provoked  to  laughter,  by  the  overwhelming  and  pow 
erful  eloquence  of  Gough — yet,  none  of  these  men,  in  our  judgment,  sur 
passes,  in  fluency  of  expression,  in  the  eloquency  of  words,  in  beautiful 
imagery,  and,  in  fact,  in  all  those  elements  that  go  to  make  a  popular 
and  eloquent  orator,  Hon.  E.  0.  Perrin,  the  eloquent  Tcnnessean.  To 
Buch  of  our  readers  who  may  think  us  over-enthusiastic,  we  can  only  say, 
go  and  hear  Mr.  Perrin,  and  judge  as  to  his  eloquence  for  yourselves. 
He  is  full  of  humor  as  well  as  pathos;  he  can,  in  a  moment,  change 
"  from  grave  to  gay,  from  lively  to  severe  "  His  style  and  manner  more 
closely  resemble  Gough  than  do  any  other  man's  we  ever  heard.  We 
cannot,  of  course,  give  a  synopsis  of  Mr.  Perrin's  speech.  In  conclusion, 
he  paid  a  glowing  tribute  to  Clay  and  Webster,  and  closed  with  a  grand, 
beautiful,  and  eloquent  appeal  in  behalf  of  the  Constitution  and  the 
Union  of  the  States. 

Mr.  Perrin's  mother  was  a  daughter  of  Mr.  Maddox  Fisher, 
of  Lexington,  Kentucky.  She  was  born  and  reared  almost 
beneath  the  shades  of  Ashland,  and  remained  through  life  the 
devoted  friend  of  the  honored  statesman  and  patriot,  of  whom 


650  HON.    EDWIN   O.    PEERIN. 

every  Kentuckian  is  proud.  The  press  has,  within  the  last 
year,  often  styled  Mr.  Perrin  the  "  young  man  eloquent  I"  and 
a  commendable  public  spirit  has  not  been  wanting  in  attesting 
their  appreciation  of  the  worth  and  estimate  of  their  distin 
guished  fellow-citizen.  We  have  no  specimen  of  Mr.  Perrin's 
published  speeches  before  us,  save  a  Masonic  address,  which 
would  be  more  interesting  to  the  craft  than  to  the  public  gen 
erally. 


JfJTVf  YORK. 


MR.    SIDNEY    KOPMAN. 

THE  father  of  Sidney  Kopman  was  the  late  Louis  Kopman, 
of  New  York.  He  was  introduced  into  the  United  States 
by  Robert  Southey,  the  poet,  and  William  Roscoe,  the  his 
torian,  of  Liverpool,  and  was  eminent  in  his  day  as  one  of 
the  largest  importers  of  British  goods  in  New  York  and 
Savannah,  Georgia.  Mr.  Kopman  was  a  scholar,  an  ac 
complished  gentleman,  and  an  unobtrusive  Christian,  in 
communion  with  the  Church  of  England ;  and  after  enjoying 
for  more  than  eighty  years  the  most  faultless  reputation 
in  every  relation  in  life,  he  has  transmitted  these  excellences 
of  character  to  his  son,  whose  portrait  appears  in  these 
pages. 

Mr.  Sidney  Kopman  was  born  in  New  York,  and  was 
educated  to  the  mercantile  profession ;  and,  after  a  long  ex 
perience  as  clerk  in  his  own  city,  he  became  a  merchant  in 
Memphis,  Tennessee.  During  the  period  of  the  Mexican 
war,  he  acted  as  the  efficient  chief  clerk  to  Capt.  Win.  K. 
Latimer,  of  the  United  States  Navy,  at  the  Pensacola  Navy 
Yard.  He  there  founded  a  lodge  of  the  benevolent  society 
of  Odd  Fellows,  and  for  many  years  has  been  an  active  and 
prominent  member  of  the  Masonic  fraternity.  He  con 
tributed  the  leading  editorials  of  the  Pensecola  Gazette, 
when  in  Florida. 

After  the  Mexican  war  closed,  Mr.  Kopman  was  among 
the  first  to  make  a  commercial  exploration  to  California,  bv 


552  ME.    SIDNEY   KOPMAN. 

the  way  of  Cape  Horn.  In  this  perilous  voyage  of  six 
months,  he  most  miraculously  escaped  shipwreck  at  Terra 
del  Fuego,  the  extreme  point  of  Patagonia.  He  was  at 
Juan  Fernandez,  visited  the  Island  of  Madeira,  was  present 
at  the  opening  of  the  Chilian  congress,  and  slept  two  weeks 
upon  the  Andes  Mountains.  He  was  presented,  with  several 
other  Americans,  to  the  Emperor  of  Brazil,  at  Rio  Janeiro, 
and  penetrated  the  interior  of  that  state  to  visit  the  diamond 
mines ;  and,  finally,  after  the  completion  of  a  most  hazard 
ous  voyage  of  twenty-three  thousand  miles,  with  the  attend 
ant  evils,  at  one  time,  of  a  threatened  famine,  he  settled 
down  in  San  Francisco  and  Sacramento,  California,  for 
some  months,  to  make  a  survey  of  the  country,  and  then 
return  to  New  York,  by  the  way  of  Mexico. 

The  Mercantile  Library  of  his  native  city,  New  York, 
was  for  many  years  an  object  of  the  deepest  solicitude  to 
Mr.  Kopman,  and  to  whose  energy  and  action,  as  a  member 
of  that  association,  may  be  attributed  much  of  the  present 
position  and  standing  of  the  institution.  He  has  recently 
been  elected  an  honorary  member  of  the  historical  society 
at  Madison,  Wisconsin. 

Mr.  Kopman  early  enlisted  in  the  great  national  move 
ment  to  regenerate  the  country,  and  has  been  one  of  the 
most  earnest  and  active  members  of  the  American  party. 
In  the  formation  of  organizations  in  the  country,  he  has 
efficiently  contributed  in  the  three  past  years,  by  inducing 
prominent  men,  who  have  visited  New  York,  to  unite  with 
the  American  order,  which  prepared  the  way  for  their  indi 
vidual  cooperation  when  they  returned  to  their  own  homes. 
From  four  to  five  hundred  members,  who  are  now  exerting 
an  extended  influence  in  their  respective  localities,  gave 
their  first  adhesion  to  the  cause  under  the  earnest  pleadings 
of  this  true  American ;  while  the  author  cannot  neglect 


MB.    SIDNEY   KOPMAN.  553 

to  acknowledge  tbe  valuable  data  furnished  by  Mr.  Kopman 
in  connection  with  this  work. 

Few  possess  more  extended  literary  acquirements,  or  a 
better-cultivated  taste,  than  Mr.  Kopman ;  and  his  remark- 
ible  gift  of  remembering  all  that  he  has  read  would  not 
make  it  inappropriate  to  style  him  a  moving  cyclopedia 
of  useful  knowledge.  But  the  crowning  virtue  of  the  man 
is  in  the  beauty  of  his  character,  his  high  moral  rectitude, 
and  his  pure  integrity. 

Within  a  few  days  of  the  sailing  of  the  Arctic  Expedition, 
in  1853,  under  the  command  of  Dr.  Elisha  K.  Kane,  it  was 
made  known  in  New  York  city,  by  Mr.  Kopman,  that  Doctor 
Kane  was  a  member  of  the  Masonic  fraternity  ;  and  the  most 
prompt  and  efficient  efforts  were  made  by  him  to  testify  the 
appreciation  of  the  Order,  for  the  services  of  this  daring  and 
enthusiastic  American  who  had  undertaken  the  perilous  search 
for  a  long  lost  brother  ! 

The  announcement  made  by  Mr.  Kopman,  that  Doctor  Kane 
was  a  Free  Mason,  created  extraordinary  feeling  among  the 
fraternity  of  New  York  ;  and  the  Arcana  Lodge,  of  which 
Mr.  Kopman  was  a  member,  was  the  first  to  propose  a  public 
demonstration  by  the  craft  of  that  city,  in  honor  of  the  labors 
of  Dr.  Kane  in  the  cause  of  science  and  humanity  !  The  esti 
mate  placed  upon  this  evidence  of  interest  is  best  exhibited  by 
Doctor  Kane's  own  letter  to  Mr.  Kopman  : 

PHILADELPHIA,  May  12M,  1868. 

DEAR  SIR  AND  BROTHER  : — I  have  received  your  eloquent  letter,  inclos 
ing  the  resolutions  of  the  Free  and  Accepted  Masons,  of  Arcana  Lodge. 
These  resolutions,  expressive  of  the  sympathy  of  our  brethren  with  the 
objects  of  the  Expedition,  under  my  command,  are  to  me  especially 
pleasing.  I  shall  communicate  them,  formally,  to  the  officers  and  men, 

24 


554 


ME.    SIDNEY   KOPMAN. 


as  an  indication  of  valued  sympathy  at  home,  and  a  useful  stimulus  in  the 
search  after  our  lost  brother,  Sir  John  Franklin. 

I  hare  the  honor  to  be,  faithfully, 

Your  friend  and  brother, 

..  i  E.  K.  KAM*. 

Srosrr  KOPMAN,  Esq., 

Secretary  of  Arcana  Lodge,  New  York  city. 

The  Grand  Lodge,  of  New  York,  was  convened,  and,  on  the 
evening  previous  to  the  sailing  of  the  Expedition,  Doctor  Kane 
met  its  officers  and  members,  by  invitation,  at  the  Medical 
College,  in  Crosby  street ;  and  the  press,  after  these  interesting 
ceremonies,  announced  the  fact,  that  he  was  an  honored  mem 
ber  of  that  "  Ancient  Order."  Next  morning  the  Expedition 
sailed  1  The  waters  around  New  York,  as  the  "Advance" 
passed  out  of  the  Narrows,  were  crowded  with  sailing  craft, 
all  bearing  the  flags  and  emblems  of  Masonry,  and  bidding 
"  God  speed"  to  the  honored  Commander,  and  brave  and  noble 
crew,  who  seemed,  even  then,  prepared  for  that  almost  super 
human  endurance  to  which  danger  and  privation  did  actually 
call  them.* 

*  Subsequently,  Mr.  Eopman  resigned  his  office  in  Arcana  Lodge, 
when  the  most  flattering  eulogium  was  passed  upon  him  by  his  brethren, 
for  "  the  interest  he  had  manifested,  and  the  energy  and  zeal  he  had 
displayed,  in  aiding  the  Lodge  to  attain  its  present  position  and  stand 
ing." 


GENERAL  NATHAN  RANNEY. 

THE  subject  of  this  sketch  was  born  in  Bethlehem,  in 
the  State  of  Connecticut,  the  27th  of  April,  1797.  In  the 
war  with  England,  1812,  he  entered  the  army  of  the  United 
States,  though  but  sixteen  years  of  age;  and  his  deter 
mined  bravery,  and  fearlessness  in  the  discharge  of  his 
duties,  made  him  prominent  in  every  battle,  and  exposed 
him  to  every  danger  in  the  thickest  of  the  fight.  But,  his 
only  purpose  in  enlisting  in  the  war  being  a  patriotic  one, 
he  was  steadfast  in  his  refusal  of  all  promotion  tendered 
him,  and  adhered  to  his  original  intention  of  remaining  in 
the  service  during  the  five  years  for  which  he  had  enlisted. 
It  cannot  be  doubted  that,  had  his  ambition  led  him  to  a 
different  decision,  he  would  long  since  have  occupied  the 
highest  rank  among  the  gallant  men  of  the  army. 

In  1819,  Gen.  Ranney  located  in  St.  Louis,  Missouri, 
where,  as  a  prominent  member  of  society  and  an  enterpris 
ing  merchant,  he  has  eminently  assisted  in  the  opening 
prosperity  of  St.  Louis,  and  possesses  a  hold  upon  the  con 
fidence  and  esteem  of  the  community  equal  to  that  enjoyed 
by  any  other  resident. 

In  1827,  he  became  a  member  of  the  Presbyterian 
Church.  And  so  faithful,  active,  and  consistent,  has  he 
proved,  in  the  discharge  of  every  Christian  duty  belonging 
to  his  religious  profession,  that  he  has  held  the  important 
and  responsible  position  of  elder,  almost  ever  since,  in  iJbe 


556  GEN.    NATHAN   RANNET. 

congregation  with  which  he  worships.  "  All  that  I  am  is 
through  the  blessing  of  God,"  has  been  the  glorious  sen 
timent  which  has  emulated  this  noble  American  to  action, 
and  given  him  a  name  that  kings,  with  their  sceptres,  might 
wisely  envy. 

In  1855,  the  convention  of  the  soldiers  of  1812  met  in 
Philadelphia.  Gen.  Ranney  addressed  that  assembly  in 
these  words : 

"  FELLOW-CITIZENS  AND  FELLOW-SOLDIERS:  Much  has 
been  said  in  relation  to  the  militia  of  this  country,  and  their 
services  in  the  late  war  with  Great  Britain.  They  are, 
indeed,  the  bulwark  and  safety  of  our  country ;  but,  while 
just  honors  have  been  paid  to  them,  the  gallant  spirits  who 
fought  by  their  side  with  equal  honor  and  equal  success  — 
the  soldiers  of  the  regular  army  of  .1812  —  were  not  men 
tioned.  I  propose,  on  this  occasion,  to  make  a  few  remarks 
in  relation  to  the  regular  soldiers  of  that  eventful  war. 

"It  will  be  recollected  by  most  of  you,  perhaps,  that 
the  soldiers  and  officers  of  1812  came  from  the  first  fam 
ilies  of  the  land.  They  entered  the  army,  not  as  mercena 
ries,  but  from  patriotic  motives,  with  a  determination  to 
serve  their  country,  and  drive  back  the  myrmidons  of 
Britain  from  our  sacred  soil.  [Applause.]  I  will  give 
you  briefly  the  history  of  one  of  those  soldiers,  which,  with 
some  modifications,  may  be  the  history  of  every  soldier  in 
the  regular  army. 

"  There  was  a  lad  belonging  to  one  of  the  most  respecta 
ble  families  of  the  United  States,  who,  at  the  age  of  sixteen 
years,  was  the  favored  of  his  family.  At  that  age  he 
left  his  home  and  his  school,  and  enlisted  as  a  private  in 
the  29th  Regiment  for  five  years.  His  father's  brother, 
who  was  a  colonel  in  the  army,  obtained  an  order  for  the 
boy's  discharge.  The  discharge  came,  and  was  refused. 
[Great  applause.]  A  commission  was  also  offered  him, 
and  that,  too,  was  refused.  This  lad  served  under  General 
Wool.  He  was  one  of  the  three  hundred  who  met  Gov 
ernor  Provost  eighteen  miles  from  Platteburg,  and  who  cut 


GEN.    NATHAN   RANNEY.  557 

their  way,  inch  by  inch,  until  they  reached  the  banks  of  the 
Saranac.  He  was  one  of  thirty  who  crossed  the  Saranac 
and  set  fire  with  hay  and  tar  to  the  underbrush  of  dry  pine 
directly  under  the  guns  of  the  British  battery,  and  returned 
across  the  Saranac  by  floating  a  hundred  yards  down  that 
stream,  and  fainting  from  the  loss  of  blood.  He  was  but 
one  of  a  regiment  through  whose  instrumentality,  in  part, 
the  British  lion  was  made  to  turn  in  defeat  from  the  Amer 
ican  eagle.  [Applause.]  This  same  person,  in  the  dark 
ness  of  night,  led  twenty  men  into  a  British  town  of  five 
hundred  inhabitants,  and  where  British  guards  were  sta 
tioned  to  defend  it,  and  took  three  distinguished  prisoners, 
and  carried  them  safely  into  the  American  camp,  with  loss 
of  only  one  man  wounded.  He  was  made  a  sergeant,  and 
afterwards  a  provost-marshal,  that  being  the  highest  non 
commissioned  officer  in  the  army.  But  he  did  not  seek  the 
life  of  a  soldier  as  a  profession.  He  determined  to  serve 
his  country  as  a  patriot,  and  when  national  honor  and  na 
tional  rights  were  vindicated  to  return  into  civil  life.  Now, 
in  the  far  West,  the  lad  then,  but  man  now,  has  reared  an 
interesting  family,  and  maintains  a  good  name  there,  and 
commands  the  respect  and  honor  of  his  fellow-men.  [Voices 
— "Give  us  his  name!"]  I'll  come  to  that  by  and  by. 
I  know,  fellow-soldiers,  that  so  dearly  does  that  man  love 
the  quiet  and  unostentatious  position  which  he  now  occu 
pies,  that  were  Congress  at  this  day  to  offer  to  confer  upon 
him  a  title  of  Lieutenant-General  of  our  army,  or  any 
other  trust  of  a  like  character,  that  he  would  refuse  it.  If 
he  has  served  his  country,  it  alone  is  satisfaction.  He  has 
but  discharged  his  duty.  [Applause.] 

Fellow-soldiers,  many  of  us  will  never  meet  each  other 
again  on  this  side  of  Jordan.  This  meeting  is  interesting 
to  me  —  more  so  than  any  which  it  has  been  my  fortune  to 
ever  attend,  since  the  scenes  of  that  war.  We  have  all 
fought  our  last  fight  — •  but  we  have  still  the  warfare  of  life 
before  us.  Let  us,  then,  so  contend  that  we  shall  win  a 
crown  of  victory,  and  be  led  by  the  eternal  Captain  of  our 
salvation  to  our  last,  our  eternal  home  in  heaven  !  [Great 
applause,  and  cries  of  'Tell  us  the  name  of  that  boy.'] 


558  GEN-    NATHAN   RANNEY. 

Fellow-soldiers,  he  stands  now  before  you.     [Renewed  ap 
plause,  and  nine  cheers  for  General  Ranney.]" 

In  1836,  General  Ranney  was  induced  to  accept  the  post 
of  Brigadier-General  in  the  Missouri  militia;  which  he 
filled  with  honor  to  himself,  and  entire  acceptability  to  those 
under  his  command.  This  constitutes  the  only  military 
situation  he  has  consented  to  occupy  in  his  adopted  state. 

In  politics,  he  was  an  original  Jackson  democrat,  and 
until  the  American  party  was  organized  he  was  well 
known  as  a  leader  in  the  ranks  of  the  democracy  of  the 
state.  He  was  among  the  first  to  enrol  his  name  upon  the 
records  of  the  party  to  which  he  is  now  attached,  and  of 
which  he  is  a  firm,  bold,  and  eloquent  advocate.  He  feels, 
as  do  his  brethren  everywhere,  all  over  America,  that  the 
safety  of  the  Union  and  of  the  nation  depends  upon  guard 
ing  the  ballot-box  from  the  inroads  that  are  being  made 
upon  it  by  the  influx  of  foreigners  ;  opposition  to  extremists 
both  of  the  South  and  the  North ;  a  conservative,  peace- 
loving,  and  country-loving  band  of  patriots,  who  are  ready 
and  willing  to  sacrifice  themselves  for  the  good  of  their 
native  land.  In  his  youth,  he  fought  for  his  country ;  in 
his  manhood,  he  has  prayed  for  it ;  and  in  his  old  age,  he  is 
ready  to  die  for  it. 

The  same  influences  which  led  Gen.  Ranney  to  battle  for 
his  country  when  a  youth  of  only  sixteen  summers  have 
again  brought  him  into  the  present  American  revolution ; 
and  to  an  immense  gathering  of  freemen  in  the  rotunda  of 
the  court-house  of  St.  Louis,  in  March,  1856,  who  had 
convened  to  ratify  the  American  nominations  for  President 
and  Vice  President,  he  spoke  as  follows  : 

"  AMERICANS  :  We  are  here,  not  as  Northern  men  from 
the  North,  not  as  Southern  men  from  the  South,  but  as 


GEN.   NATHAN  RANNEY.  559 

Union  men  of  the  United  States.  We  meet  to  give  a  hearty 
sanction  to  the  Philadelphia  nomination  of  President  and 
Vice  President. 

"  We  have  had  but  one  Washington  and  Jackson,  one 
Webster  and  Clay,  and  but  one  Calhoun. 

"  Fillmore  and  Donelson  are  good  men,  —  the  best  in  the 
Union.  A  better,  a  stronger,  a  more  suitable  nomination, 
cannot  be  made  by  any  party,  nor  one  better  calculated  to 
succeed.  Three  times  in  my  life  I  have  rejoiced  with  ex 
ceeding  great  joy  ;  first  when,  in  1814,  at  Plattsburgh,  one 
thousand  four  hundred  Americans  defeated  fourteen  thou 
sand  of  Lord  Wellington's  best  troops." 


" 


The  constitution  must  be  preserved  from  violation. 
The  one  billion  five  hundred  million  dollars  of  slave  property 
is  nothing,  compared  with  the  worth  of  the  Union.  Ay,  can 
the  ten  thousand  millions  of  property  in  the  world  purchase 
of  us  the  fame  of  Washington,  or  the  memory  of  York- 
town,  of  Monmouth,  of  Saratoga,  or  of  Plattsburgh  and 
New  Orleans  ?  No  !  the  Union  must  —  it  shall  —  it 
will  be  saved  !  The  nation  looks  to  us  for  its  safety.  The 
good  men  of  the  North  will  help  us,  and  our  prospects  are 
good.  We  take  no  step  backward  ;  our  platform  is  the  con 
stitution  and  the  rights  of  the  states. 

'  '  The  Christian  who  throws  away  his  Bible  has  no  re 
ligion.  The  American  who  throws  away  the  constitution 
has  no  country.  Americans,  let  our  party  do  right,  and 
act  right,  if  the  heavens  fall  ! 

"  The  third  time  of  my  joy  was  at  the  nomination  of 
Fillmore  and  Donelson.  My  reasons  are,  that  the  nominees 
are  worthy  ;  that  the  country  looked  for  such  men,  with  the 
determination  to  elect  them." 

On  the  4th  of  June,  1856,  the  American  party  of  Mis 
souri  held  a  mass  meeting  at  Hannibal,  in  that  state.  Gen. 
Ranney  was  present  to  enforce  the  principle  that  "  Ameri 
cans  alone  should  rule  America."  And  he  did  it  with  a 


560  GEN.    NATHAN  RANNEY. 

will,  which  found  its  way  with  electric  power  into  the  hearts 
of  thousands.     He  told  the  people  that 

"  For  more  than  thirty  years  he  was  a  consistent,  an  un 
flinching  democrat,  and  that  he  had  acted  with  them  in 
good  faith  as  long  as  they  had  continued  honest  and  pure  in 
principles ;  but  two  years  ago  his  conviction  was  certain  that 
the  democratic  party  had  changed,  had  become  corrupt; 
and  he  had  done  what  every  honest  man  should  do, —  thrown 
himself  body  and  soul  into  the  great  American  cause ;  that 
he  had  become  a  member  of  the  only  party  truly  national, 
and  truly  devoted  to  the  preservation  of  this  Union." 

At  a  convention  held  in  Burlington,  Iowa,  in  October, 
1851.  a  member  from  St.  Louis,  in  a  set  speech,  declared 
that  "  while  the  rains  of  heaven  were  refreshing  and 
fructifying  the  earth,  and  swelling  the  tide  of  the  Missis 
sippi,  he  thanked  his  God  that  not  one  drop  came  from 
SOUTH  CAROLINA  ! ! !  " 

Gen.  Ranney,  his  personal  friend,  born  in  New  England, 
but  loving  the  whole  Union,  rebuked  him,  with  this  signifi 
cant  language,  for  his  wanton  attack  upon  a  sister  state : 
"Why,  sir,"  said  he,  "attempt  to  goad  men  on  to  mad 
ness,  who  were  placed  under  different  circumstances  with 
ourselves,  and  of  which  we  know  but  little  ?  " 

He  then  referred  to  the  glorious  history  of  this  chivalrfc 
and  heroic  state, —  to  the  memory  of  Marion,  Sumpter, 
Greene,  and  others ;  to  the  battles  of  Yorktown,  Cowpens, 
and  the  Eutaw  Springs,  and  asked  the  President,  in  a  mild 
but  emphatic  manner,  if  all  these  were  to  be  forgotten.  Ho 
stated  that  there  was  one  delegate  in  that  assembly  whose 
body  had  been  scarred,  and  whose  limbs  had  been  disfigured, 
while  fighting  side  by  side  with  the  Carolinian  against  our 
ancient  foe  in  the  war  of  1812. 

He  also  referred  to  the  choicest  blood  of  South  Carolina 


GEN.    NATHAN   RANNET.  561 

which  had  enriched  the  plains  of  Mexico,  and  said,  "Mr. 
President,  shall  we  be  no  longer  allowed  to  revere  and 
honor  these  events,  and  be  compelled  to  steel  our  hearts 
against  the  noble  actors  in  them  ? 

"  Sir,  the  rains  of  heaven,  falling  upon  the  eastern  slope 
of  the  Alleghany  Mountains,  refreshing  and  fructifying  the 
soil  of  South  Carolina,  ran  some  of  it  down  her  rivers,  and 
some  of  these  '  drops '  helped  to  swell  the  tide  of  the  sea 
that  floated  the  Constitution,  the  Guerriere,  the  Wasp,  and 
the  Hornet,  and  enabled  the  American  navy  to  obtain  vic 
tory  and  renown." 

Said  Gen.  Ranney,  "  Is  this  gallant  state  to  be  made 
accountable  for  all  the  vagaries  of  some  of  her  Hotspurs, 
and  mistaken  friends  ? 

"  Why  not  attack  good  old  New  England,  the  land  of 
churches  and  school-houses,  and  make  her  accountable  for 
the  infamy  of  the  Hartford  Convention,  and  the  infernal 
acts  of  her  hosts  of  abolitionists,  who  cast  aside  the  laws  of 
the  land,  and  the  authority  of  the  Bible,  and  ridicule  our 
holy  religion?  No,  Mr.  President,"  said  Gen.  Ranney, 
"  I  love  New  England,  and  I  love  South  Carolina ;  and, 
with  all  their  faults,  I  will  love  them  still." 

As  president  of  the  Missouri  Bible  Society,  Gen.  Ran 
ney  is  also  known  for  his  distinguished  efforts  to  advance 
the  circulation  of  the  Word  of  God,  as  well  as  diffuse  ita 
spirit  among  his  fellow-men. 

Gen.  Ranney  is  the  artificer  of  his  own  fortune,  and  his 
industry,  intelligence,  and  energy,  have  more  than  supplied 
any  deficiency  of  early  culture ;  while  the  history  of  his 
life  is  replete  with  every  virtue,  and,  without  flaw  or  blem 
ish,  may  well  serve  as  a  model  for  every  American  patriot. 


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